[COVID-19] Allahabad High Court extends life of interim orders till February 28

In view of the rise in COVID-19 cases, the Allahabad High Court recently extended the life of all interim orders passed by itself and all courts and tribunals in the State of Uttar Pradesh till February 28. .A Division Bench of Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Piyush Agarwal restored a suo motu case registered in 2020, and said that the COVID-19 situation is deteriorating across the country."Recently, a new variant of COVID – 19 virus has drastically increased in the number of COVID-19 cases, not only across the State of Uttar Pradesh but also all over the country and the situation is deteriorating day-by-day," the Court noted..Keeping in mind the larger public interest, the Court issued the following directions:All interim orders passed by the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad as well as at Lucknow Bench, all the District Courts, Civil Courts, Family Courts, Labour Courts, Industrial Tribunals and all other Tribunals or Quasi-Judicial forums in the State of Uttar Pradesh, over which this Court has power of superintendence, which were subsisting on 31.12.2021, shall stand extended till 28.02.2022, provided where the interim order was upto the specific date and which could not be listed or taken up; The interim orders or directions of this Court or any court subordinate to this Court in the State of Uttar Pradesh, which are meant to operate till further orders, shall continue to remain in force, subject to any specific order passed in the case listed before the Court concerned; It is further directed that the criminal courts in the State of Uttar Pradesh, which granted bail orders or anticipatory bail for a limited period which are likely to expire on or before 28.02.2022, shall stand extended for a period till that date, i.e., 28.02.2022; Any orders of eviction, dispossession or demolition, already passed by the High Court, District Court or Civil Court, if not executed till the date of passing of this order, shall remain in abeyance for the period till 28.02.2022; The State Government, Municipal Authorities, other Local Bodies and agencies and instrumentalities of the State Government shall be slow in taking action of demolition and eviction of persons till 28.02.2022 It is further directed that any Bank or Financial Institution 4 Public Interest Litigation No. 564 of 2020 shall not take any action for auction in respect of any property or an institute or person or party or any body corporate till 28.02.2022..It was made clear that in case any undue hardship is caused to litigants or the State owing to the extension, they would be at liberty to seek appropriate relief by moving an application before the competent forum..The matter will be heard next on February 24..[Read order]