All Delhi High Court benches to resume physical hearing daily from March 15

The court has urged advocates, litigants and other visitors to strictly adhere to the norms of social distancing and all other Covid-19 protocols.

Delhi High Court said on Saturday all its benches will resume hearing on a daily basis from March 15. All courts of joint registrars (judicial) shall continue to hold hearings as per the existing arrangement till March 12 and hold regular physical courts from March 15, it said in a circular.

Delhi High Court. (Mint File Photo )

According to the curricular, the court may, in exceptional cases, permit any of the parties and (or) their counsel to join the proceedings through video conferencing, provided the requisite infrastructure is available.

The court has urged advocates, litigants and other visitors to strictly adhere to the norms of social distancing and all other Covid-19 protocols, guidelines, and directions issued by the Centre, Delhi government and the court.

The high court had on March 25 last year restricted its functioning as well as that of the district courts till April 14. It was subsequently extended from time to time till January 16 this year. The court then partially resumed physical hearings from September 2020, after holding only virtual courts for nearly six months as the Covid-19 pandemic struck the country.

Earlier in January, the court said it had initiated steps for a hybrid system where a hearing can be joined through virtual as well as physical mode. Steps for setting up infrastructure for a hybrid system have already been initiated in Delhi High Court Chief Justice DN Patel’s courtroom and television screens have been installed to enable advocates opting for the new system to appear virtually, according to news agency PTI.

As of Friday, there were over 6.37 lakh Covid-19 cases in the national capital and of them, 1,053 were active.