A notification issued by the Court today states that only those Benches that were already notified for hearing urgent matters through video conferencing will function.
The Principal Bench of the High Court of Karnataka has resolved to cancel physical hearings, in light of the growing number of COVID-19 cases in Bangalore.
A notification issued by the Court today states that only those Benches that were already notified for hearing urgent matters through video conferencing will function.
The High Court has been conducting limited physical hearings for select matters since June 1.
However, "considering the safety of members of the Bar and the Court staff", physical hearings have now been brought to a halt, until further orders.
The Benches of the High Court at Dharwad and Kalaburagi will function normally as per notified schedule.
The notice further informs that the causelist of urgent matters notified for today will be taken up tomorrow, July 1 for video conferencing hearing.
Noting the large number of requests that were being forwarded by e-mail for listing, all the members of the Bar have been urged to send requisitions for listing of only extremely urgent cases. In this light, the Court has appealed to the members of the Bar,
"If this continues and the members of the Bar do not cooperate, it will become very difficult for the Court to function. This may result in stopping of Court functioning. Therefore, the cooperation of the members of the Bar is solicited."
The notice further states that the Bench of Chief Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice BV Nagarathna, which was hearing matters related to COVID-19, stands reconstituted. These matters will now be heard by a Bench of Chief Justice Oka and Justice Aravind Kumar.
The High Court (only the Principal Bench at Bengaluru) and all other courts in Bangalore Urban and Rural districts shall remain closed on July 4, the notice concludes.
