Advocates practising at the Madurai High Court Bench and the District Court have welcomed the Madras High Court Administrative Committee’s decision to suspend judicial operations in the State for three weeks.
The Committee, which had earlier decided to restrict the functioning of the courts, has decided to suspend operations for three weeks following the 21-day national lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday. Only extremely urgent cases will be taken up after a mention is made by advocates to the court officials concerned.
With entry to the Madras High Court, the Madurai Bench and the district courts prohibited, Bar Associations here have instructed their members to strictly follow the Committee’s decision.
According to Madurai Bar Association secretary S. Mohan Kumar, over 2,000 litigants and advocates visit the district court at any given time. In the wake of COVID-19, medical experts and governments have urged people to maintain social distancing and avoid mass gathering, which has become hard to follow at the district court. Hence, given the emergency situation, the decision is welcome as only extremely urgent matters will be taken up, that too after permission granted by the Principal District Judge.
Madurai Bench of Madras High Court Bar Association secretary N. Ilango says members of the association have been urged not to file any cases during the 21-day period. Given the extraordinary situation, one needs to strictly follow instructions in order to tackle the spread of COVID 19.
Sources says the court staff have been instructed to remain at home and make themselves available if and when they receive communication from their superiors for discharge of duties as per the directions given by the Committee.
