The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has decided to resume physical hearing from Monday, February 14, 2022, in view of gradual improvement in the conditions arising out of Covid-19.
The order issued from the High Court Registrar's office also communicated that all subordinate courts in the union territories will reopen for physical hearing from the said date.
The following guidelines have been issued for the same:
1. Hearing of cases listed before a Bench in the High Court is permitted through physical mode as well with the restriction that in no courtroom more than ten advocates would be allowed at a time.
2. The District and Subordinate Courts and Tribunals in Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh shall also start functioning through physical mode.
3. Entry of advocates into the courtrooms before District' and Subordinate Courts and Tribunals shall be restricted to 5 advocates only at a given time.
4. The guidelines and protocols for prevention of Covid-19 contagion including wearing masks, frequent use of hand sanitiser and maintaining safe distancing norms are mandatory for all the entrants into the Court premises.
5. Only those advocates. whose cases are listed and are fully vaccinated shall be allowed entry into the courtrooms.
6. Entry of Litigants, Clerks and Agents of the Advocates into the courtrooms shall remain prohibited for the time being.
7. Entry of witness(s) and accused person(s) only shall be permitted in District and Subordinate Courts and Tribunals provided they are fully vaccinated and subject to strict compliance of SOPs pertaining to the containment of Covid-19 infection.
8. Entry in the District and Subordinate Courts and Tribunals shall be permitted to only fully vaccinated persons from the outer gate of the Court Complex.
9. Judicial custody remands shall be given only through video conferencing as far as permissible.
