COVID 2019:SC To Take A Decision On Limited Functioning Of Court Or Extending Holi Vacation Tomorrow

Chief Justice of India, SA Bobde has called an urgent meeting at his residence on Thursday amidst the Corona Virus outbreak in India.

Justice Arun Mishra, Justice UU Lalit, Attorney General KK Venugopal, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, officials from the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Law along with office bearers of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (SCAORA) attended the meeting.

Taking note of the severity of the situation as well as increasing cases reported across the country, dangers and implications of allowing a large number of lawyers and litigants to congregate in court premises were discussed.

According to sources, the Chief Justice will take a decision on whether to extend court vacations or to limit the functioning of court from next week, or to reopen the courts as per schedule by Friday afternoon.

Currently, the Supreme Court is on a break for Holi and is scheduled to reopen on Monday, March 16.

The seriousness of the outbreak led to the Home Ministry invoking the Disaster Management Act 2005 on March 11, while the Delhi government today directed that Cinema halls and schools where examinations have been completed will remain closed till March 31 as a precautionary measure. So far, there are 74 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in India.