The Bombay High Court on Thursday passed an order extending the life of all interim orders passed by courts in the State until April 30, in view of the pan-India lockdown prompted by the spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).
As stated in the order passed today,
The Bench of Chief Justice BP Dharmadhikari and Justices AA Sayed, SS Shinde and KK Tated has directed as follows:
All interim orders which are operating till today and are not already continued by some other courts / authority including this court and the same shall remain in force till April 30.
However, parties are at liberty to move for vacation of interim orders only in extreme urgent cases.
Orders or decree for eviction, dispossession, demolition already passed by any court/Tribunal/Authority shall also remain in abeyance till April 30.
Further, the State Government has been urged to refrain from carrying out any coercive proceedings against people during this time. The Court said,
The Court also acknowledged the receipt of a letter written to the Court requesting that an accessible justice system be set up, particularly for poor and marginalized, during the nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic.
However, in response the Bench observed that for now there are sufficient mechanisms in place to ensure that urgent matters are being heard without insistence on following through the usual technicalities. In this regard, the Bench recorded the following submissions made by the Court Registry:
Matters are being entertained even if presented directly in court without affidavit or court fee.
No procedural issues / objections are being raised.
Facility of e-fling is already available and hearing through video conferencing can also be availed, as that arrangement has already been made since last about one week.
Urgent matters on request are being attended to and parties can make request for urgent hearing through emails or other modes.
Two courts are already notified for hearing of such matters, the dates of sitting are also notified.
In extreme urgent matters, even at eleventh hour, parties can move court for appropriate interim order.
[Read the Order]
