Six SC Judges Down With Swine Flu; Preventive Measures To Be Taken

Six Supreme Court judges have been infected with swine flu caused by H1N1 virus.

This was revealed by Justice D Y Chandrachud in court on Tuesday morning. He added that a meeting was held with the Chief Justice of India regarding preventive measures to be taken. He said that he has suggested the inoculation of those working in the SC.

Justice Arun Mishra also told Senior Advocate Aryama Sundaram during a hearing today that there was an outbreak of H1N1 virus in SC.

"It is a request to everyone here, don't come to court if you are not feeling well", Justice Mishra said.

Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave, President of Supreme Court Bar Association told LiveLaw that CJI S A Bobde is deeply worried about this development, and has suggested installation of a dispensary in the Supreme Court immediately for vaccination. This is likely to be done today or tomorrow.

Since the vaccination costs Rs 1200, Dave said that he has offered Rupees 10 lakhs as aid, as every one who visits SC - lawyers, junior lawyers, journalists, litigants etc- may not have the resources for taking the vaccination.

The Constitution Bench sitting in Court 3 was cancelled today due to the absence of Justice Indira Banerjee.

Justices Hemant Gupta, A S Bopanna, Abdul Nazeer are also not sitting today. Justice Sanjiv Khanna was seen wearing a mask while conducting proceedings in Court No. 2 today.

Last week, the 9-bench judge sitting in the Sabarimala reference was cancelled due to the unavailability of Justice R Banumathi, who had fainted on February 14 while conducting court proceedings.