COVID-19: Bombay High Court Principal Bench to sit for only 3 hours a day till January 28

The Bombay High Court's principal bench has reduced its working hours in view of COVID-19 and will sit to hear cases for only three hours a day from 12 noon to 3 pm without lunch breaks, with effect from January 11 till January 28, 2022. .The hearing will be through virtual mode only. The administrative committee of judges of the High Court presided by Chief Justice Dipankar Datta convened an urgent meeting today with all High Court Bar Associations where the decision was taken in light of the exponential rise in COVID-19 cases.The committee decided that matters will be heard through virtual mode "in order to reduce the physical presence of lawyers and litigants due to the prevailing situation of COVID-19 particularly with the emergence of the Omicron variant". .The newly released Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) states the following:Benches will function between 12 noon to 3 pm and will take up matters as per judicial assignment with preference to urgent matters;Mentioning for circulation of matter will be allowed through virtual mode in urgent cases only with permission of concerned Bench. "It is left to each individual Bench to settle it's board considering the priority in hearing to be given to any particular matter" the notice states; In case of fresh matter, the Advocate shall first file the matter, get lodging number and then move the praecipe by mentioning said lodging number on it;Filing of fresh matters through e-filing only, however option of filing of fresh matters is permitted till January 28, 2022. E-filing of fresh matters will be allowed for all types of matters;Filing of Testamentary matters physically will however be allowed.All praecipes should be sent 48 hours (excluding holidays) in advance before proposed listing of the matter. In the praecipe itself, advocates shall mention names of maximum three persons with their email ids who would attend the hearing through virtual mode..Last week, the administrative committee had decided to hear cases through hybrid mode, which meant that lawyers would have the option to appear for cases physically or virtually.Two days later, after a meeting with Iqbal Chahal, Commissioner of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the administrative committee decided to switch to complete virtual hearings. .[Read SOP]