CODVID19: Restricted Hearings In Supreme Court After Holi Break, Six Benches To Assemble [Read Circular]

Adding to the spate of notifications pertaining to the Coronavirus scare, the Supreme Court today has declared that six benches shall assemble and take up matters on March 16, 2020.

The circular issued by the Ld. Secretary General of the Supreme Court has stated that the following benches shall hold court and take up matters which shall appear in the revised cause list:-

Hon'ble Arun Mishra and Hon'ble M.R. Shah, JJ

Hon'ble Uday Umesh Lalit and Hon'ble Vineet Saran, JJ

Hon'ble A.M. Khanwilkar and Hon'ble Dinesh Maheshwari, JJ

Hon'ble Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud and Hon'ble Hemant Gupta, JJ

Hon'ble L. Nageswara Rao and Hon'ble S. Ravindra Bhat, JJ

Hon'ble Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hon'ble Sanjiv Khanna, JJ

Apropos this, the revised cause list shall be uploaded on Saturday, March 14.

"the Benches and the revised cause lists for 17.03.2020 (Tuesday), 18.03.2020 (Wednesday) and 19.03.2020 (Thursday), shall be notified later on" the circular says.

Earlier today, another notification had directed that the functioning of Court would be restricted to urgent matters with such number of Benches as may be found appropriate.

Chief Justice of India, SA Bobde had called an urgent meeting at his residence on Thursday to discuss the severity of the problem.

So far, there are 84 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in India.

The first case of death in India due to this pandemic was reported in Karnataka on Thursday. Subsequently, a second death was reported on Friday Night in Delhi.

Earlier today, the Supreme Court issued a notification directing that the functioning of the Court will be restricted to urgent matters with such number of Benches as may be found appropriate.

"On reviewing the advisory issued by the Government of India and in view of the opinion of public health experts including medical professionals and also considering the safety and welfare of all the visitors, litigants, lawyers, court staff, security, maintenance and support staff, student interns and media professionals, the Competent Authority has been pleased to direct that the functioning of the Courts shall be restricted to urgent matters with such number of Benches as may be found appropriate"

It is also notified that that no persons except the lawyers who are going to act in the matter, i.e. either for argument or for making oral submissions or to assist along with one litigant only, shall be permitted in the court room.

"Mentioning of matters will be made before the Mentioning Officer only. Considering the importance of the safety measures for health, all concerned are requested to cooperate with the instructions of the staff on duty, in the interest of all"

Read the Circular