[COVID-19] Only virtual hearings to the extent possible in Madras High Court until April 23 [Read Notification]

The Madras High Court has notified that it will be conducting only virtual hearings to the extent possible until April 23, 2021. .The notification issued on Thursday follows a request from the State to take appropriate, immediate preventive measures to arrest the further spread of COVID-19, even if the situation in Tamil Nadu is better than other places in the country. Towards this end, the following measures will be adopted:In the High Court, hearing of cases shall be only via virtual mode to the extent possible, except the appearance of the government lawyers in respect of bail and other urgent motions. All lawyers’ chambers shall remain closed from April 17, 2021 until further orders.The libraries in all the Bar Associations shall remain closed until further orders.These restrictions will apply to the Madurai Bench as well.These arrangements will continue until April 23, Friday. The situation will be reviewed on April 22 for further directions..Earlier in the day during hearings, the Bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee had hinted that more restrictions may be placed in view of the second wave of COVID-19. .The Bench had also asked Advocate General Vijay Narayan to consult the State's Health Secretary on the way forward given that the Court is not equipped with the data to decide on the issue itself. ."If there is any advisory we will abide by it," Chief Justice Banerjee orally observed. .Advocate General Narayan remarked that the health officials had also expressed concern that the situation is going out of control. The more worrying aspect, he added, was that they were not able to predict which way the virus would go. Because of mutations, people under 30 may even be more affected than older age groups, he noted. .The AG, however, submitted the assembly elections were not solely to blame for the second wave, pointing to the COVID-19 situation in other States where no elections were held recently..The Chief Justice, in turn, observed that even people who had obtained the first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine may be affected. As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, he observed that there seems to be a reasonable stock of COVID-19 vaccines..In any case, the Bench proceeded to urge that the Health Secretary be consulted on whether any advisory should be issued on the issue. .[Read Notification]