The Delhi High Court on Monday has extended the operation of all interim orders passed by it and the courts subordinate to it, till July 15, which were to expire on or after June 15, as litigants and lawyers are unable to appear due to the Coronavirus-induced lockdown.
A special bench, headed by Chief Justice D N Patel, Justice Siddharth Mridul & Justice Talwant Singh taking note of the prevalent situation in Delhi, said that, the Administrative and General Supervision Committee of the Delhi High Court ordered that the regular functioning of the High Court as well subordinate Courts shall continue to remain suspended till June 30.
“In view of the above, we hereby further extend the implementation of the directions contained in our order dated 25th March, 2020 and 15th May, 2020 till 15th July, 2020 with the same terms and conditions,” said the Court.
On March 25, the high court had extended till May 15 the interim orders in all matters pending before it and subordinate courts, in view of the coronavirus lockdown. Thereafter, it was extended till June 15.
Earlier, the High Court had on March 25 restricted its function as well as that of the district courts till April 14. It was subsequently extended to May 3, May 17, May 23, May 31 and June 14.
The bench directed that the order be uploaded on the website of the High Court and be conveyed to all the Standing Counsel, UOI, GNCTD, DDA, Civic Authorities, Delhi High Court Bar Association, all the other Bar Associations of Delhi, as well as to all District Courts subordinate to this Court.
The Court noted in its order, “Needless to clarify that in case, the aforesaid extension of interim order causes any hardship of an extreme nature to a party to such proceeding, they would be at liberty to seek appropriate relief, as may be advised.”
At present the Court is functioning through video conferencing facility & taking up only urgent matters for hearing due to coronavirus pandemic and lockdown.
The bench has listed the matter for next hearing on July 13 for further directions.
Read the order here;
67233-2020-India Legal Bureau