COVID: Punjab & Haryana High Court To Hear Cases Through Video Conferencing Mode From June 28

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has decided to continue hearing cases through video conferencing mode from June 28 in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A notification in this regard was issued by the Registrar General of the Punjab and Haryana High Court stating that the decision had been taken by the Chief Justice of the High Court with a view to ensuring the safety of the judges, advocates, staff, and litigants.

The notification also states that mentioning for the listing of all categories of cases will be done away with from June 28, and all the cases will be entertained by the DRR section (filing section) for the listing of matters in urgent motion.

Importantly, the notification states that matters involving life and liberty, including anticipatory and regular bails, habeas corpus petitions, criminal writ petitions pertaining to protection, parole, furlough, premature release, and application for suspension of the sentence would be taken up on dates already fixed between June 26 and July 30 irrespective of the year of registration and that such cases would not be adjourned automatically.

Also, all the 'freshly registered cases' lying pending in the registry for listing in 'Urgent Motion Cause List' will be listed serial wise before Hon'ble Benches subject to a maximum number of cases that can be taken up on a particular day.

Regarding, hearing of the cases through VC mode, the notification states that no other person except the advocate/litigants shall be allowed in the Room of the video-conferencing/video-call facility.

It has also been notified that the advocates/ advocates-clerks/law interns/general public shall not be permitted inside the High Court building.

As reported by The Tribune, perturbed over the curtailed functioning of the High Court, the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association had recently raised the issue with the Chief Justice of the High Court claiming that the court had reduced its working even on the virtual mode, resulting in a further backlog of the cases.

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