[COVID-19 Lockdown extension] Bombay HC to continue restricted functioning until May 5, Interim orders extended till June 15

In view of the extension of the national lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19, the Bombay High Court has intimated that it would continue its present arrangement of hearing only urgent matters until May 5..On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the COVID-19 lockdown has been extended until May 3. .On March 20, the Bombay High Court took a call to sit only on two days a week for a limited number of hours, as a precautionary measure against the spread of the Coronavirus. This was even before first lockdown was announced by the Central Government on March 24 for a period of 21 day period..After the Centre's announcement of March 24, the Court passed an order on March 26 extending the life of all interim orders passed by it and subordinate courts in the State until April 30. On Wednesday, the High Court intimated that this extension "shall continue further till 15th June 2020 subject to the same liberty to aggrieved party to move for vacation thereof.".The Court has also clarified that, "while calculating time for disposal of matters made time bound by this Court, the period for which the order dated 26th March 2020 continues to operate shall be added and time shall stand extended accordingly.".The Court will review the situation on May 4, adds the order passed by Chief Justice BP Dharmadhikari and Justices AA Sayed, SS Shinde and KK Tated..[Read the Order]