Important Orders And Efforts Of The Jammu & Kashmir's Judiciary In Pandemic Times

The world has come to a complete halt because of the unprecedented pandemic, which continues to make a mess of human lives. COVID-19 has given rise to some serious challenges to the Justice Delivery System in our country. The Supreme Court of India, High Courts of our country, and Subordinate Courts are putting their best feet forward, in ensuring that access to justice remains ubiquitous, even in times of a pandemic, by bringing into play, virtual courts and hearings. The Supreme Court issued various guidelines for court functioning through video-conferencing during COVID-19 pandemic in Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) No. 5/2020, In Re: Guidelines for Court Functioning Through Video Conferencing During COVID-19 Pandemic, encouraging the use of video-conferencing and reducing the need of the physical presence of all stakeholders within the premises of the Courts, in order to follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and social distancing norms, issued by the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. All the High Courts and Subordinate Courts have employed video-conferencing facilities robustly so that dispensation of justice remains continual. The Jammu & Kashmir High Court has taken significant steps to ensure access and delivery of justice remain in place at all times. In the case of Court on Its Own Motion v. Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh through Secretaries, Social Welfare Department, WP(C) PIL No. 1/2020, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir, took suo moto cognizance of the cases related to domestic violence and issued notices to the Secretary, Department of Social Welfare, Government of Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, and Member Secretary, Jammu and Kashmir State Legal Services Authority, to submit a report highlighting the steps taken regarding domestic or any other kind of violence being faced by women on account of the implementation of the COVID-19 lockdown. The Bench also issued a slew of measures for the immediate assistance of the victims which were, creation of dedicated funding to address issues of violence against women and girls as part of the COVID-19 response by the Union Territories of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, increased availability of call-in services to facilitate discreet reporting of abuse, increased online legal and counselling service for women and girls, designated informal safe spaces for women, immediate designation of safe spaces as shelters for women who are compelled to leave their domestic situation and these shelters must be treated as accessible shelters. In Azra Usmail v. Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir WP(C) PIL No. 4/2020 and Court on its Own Motion v. Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, WP(C) PIL No. 5/2020, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir issued directions to the concerned district administration of Reasi to ensure that the 400 pilgrims stranded at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine, Katra, are not asked to vacate their current lodgings and their needs are fully provided for. The Court also emphasized the issue concerning the security and availability of basic facilities to the migrant workers and directed the administration to ensure that the accommodation, health, care, and the needs of the migrant workers, are addressed, in letter and spirit. The Court also took stock of the lockdown situation in the UT, and addressed issues such as the availability of essentials in the far-flung areas of Gurez, Tangdhar, Machail and Uri, to ensure the provision of care reaches the dependents of healthcare personnel, government officials engaged in COVID-19 management, adequate supply to doctors in government hospitals of sufficient quantities of personal protective equipments (PPEs) including face-shields, masks, gloves, etc., ensuring the safety of and violence against healthcare professionals and clinical establishments. Again, in Court on its Own Motion v. Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, WP(C) PIL No. 5/2020, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir directed the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board and the Union Territory's government to urgently take all decisions regarding the conduct of the Amarnath Yatra, keeping in view, that if infections escalate during the movement of the pilgrims, then, it would be impossible to deal with infections on the track. Eventually, the Amarnath Yatra, 2020, was cancelled after the observations made by the Court in the afore-mentioned order. The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir also observed that access to justice is a fundamental right and cannot be impeded. It has to be ensured to every citizen and courts are required to remain accessible at all times. The Court directed the Home Secretary, Jammu & Kashmir, to apprise the court about the impact of the restrictions on e-connectivity of the courts. The Jammu & Kashmir High Court has also been directing various concerned ...

Important Orders And Efforts Of The Jammu & Kashmir's Judiciary In Pandemic Times

Muneeb Rashid Malik

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