Social distancing, masks will be mandatory inside Bombay High Court
Bombay:
The Bombay High Court will resume physical court proceedings in criminal appeal cases from August 31, more than four months after virtual hearings began on an urgent case due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Two division benches comprising Justices PB Varale, VG Bisht, SS Jadhav and NJ Jamadar and two singles benches of Justices AS Gadkari and PD Naik will take the final hearings of the criminal appeals from August 31 to September 15 in the High Court.
The other judges, including Chief Justice Dipankar Datta, will continue virtual hearings until September 15, it has been said.
“As a precautionary measure, given COVID-19, only criminal appeals will be physically heard in court. At some point, a limited number of lawyers will be allowed to enter the courtroom with the intention of observing social distancing and the wearing of masks is mandatory, ”said a notice from VR Kachare, court clerk of the High Court of Bombay.
Limited cases will be listed to be heard for the day and until the case is called, lawyers will have to wait in the waiting room, in which the necessary arrangements will be made, it was said.
If a lawyer refuses to be present for a physical hearing, he or she can be heard by video conference, the notice says.
The high court had started hearing urgent cases from April after announcing a nationwide lockdown from March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
