COVID-19: Gujarat High Court To Function Virtually From January 10 Till Further Orders; SOP Issued

In view of rising COVID Cases in the state and consequent restrictions imposed by the State Government to avoid mass gatherings, the Gujarat High Court has decided to function through Virtual Mode only from January 10 till further orders.An SOP has been issued in this regard today by the High Court administration under the Orders of the Chief Justice of the High Court after due deliberation with the Hon'ble Judges of the Standing Committee and Hon'ble Judges of the Standard Operating Committee and consideration of the request made by the Gujarat High Court Advocates' Association and representation submitted by several Senior Advocates.The Notification states that the decision has been taken so as to ensure the safety of all the stakeholders viz., the Lawyers, litigants, visitors to the Court premises, and court staff and with a view to assisting the efforts made by both the Central and State Governments to prevent the spread of COVID-19.It may be noted that many High Courts have switched to Virtual Hearing mode in view of the apparent third wave of COVID, these include Gauhati High Court, Telangana High Court, Rajasthan High Court, Patna High Court etc.In view of the sudden surge in Covid-19 cases in the States of Punjab, Haryana, and Union Territory Chandigarh and with a view to ensuring the safety of Judges, Advocates, Staff, and Litigants, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has decided to hear cases only though Virtual Mode from January 5.Due to an increase in COVID-19 cases and the Omicron variant, the Supreme Court has also decided to revert to the virtual hearing mode for the next two weeks.In view of the threat of the Covid pandemic and also sudden spurt and a spike in COVID-19 cases in the State of Jharkhand and Ranchi in particular, the Jharkhand High Court has also decided to function in VC mode with effect from today, i.e., January 3.Further, in view of the threat of the imminent third wave of the Covid pandemic and also the alarming rise in the number of Covid affected cases, the Calcutta High Court has also decided to function through virtual mode only with effect from January 3.The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has decided to hear cases through Virtual Mode only from January 4 to January 21 and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has also decided to revert to Virtual Mode of hearing from January 3, 2022, to January 31, 2022.On December 30, the Delhi High Court had decided that the High Court and district courts would be functioning through virtual mode only with effect from January 3 to January 15, 2022.A day after Allahabad High Court decided to hear cases virtually in view of rising cases of COVID in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the High Court yesterday issued a revised notification allowing for a Hybrid mode of hearing (in both the benches of HC) w.e.f. January 4.Click Here To Read/Download SOP and Notification

COVID-19: Gujarat High Court To Function Virtually From January 10 Till Further Orders; SOP Issued

Sparsh Upadhyay

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