[COVID-19] Functioning of Telangana HC, Subordinate courts suspended till end of June; Physical filing of cases in HC to start from June 15

The Telangana High Court has intimated that the suspension of the work in the Subordinate Courts and Tribunals in Telangana, Tribunals has been extended till June 30. Further, the functioning of the High Court of Telangana has been suspended until June 28.

. Two notificationss to this effect have been issued in view of the spike in COVID-19 cases in the State over the last two weeks.

. Noting that there has been a spread of COVID-19 in all the Districts and more pressure on medical infrastructure as a result, the High Court has notified the suspension in the interest of the health and safety of all stakeholders.

. It is also notified that Advocates/ Parties-in-person may restart the physical filing of main cases from specified earmarked counters in the New Filing Section of the High Court with effect from June 15 .

. The Advocates/ Parties-in person are at liberty to opt for either Physical filing or online filing as per earlier instructions, along with the relevant documents including the proof of payment of Court fee. The email addresses relevant for the online filing of cases have been detailed in the notification.

. If physical filing is opted, the Advocates/ Parties-in-person are requested to follow COVID-19 guidelines such as wearing of Masks, using Sanitizer, maintaining physical distance etc.

. Additionally certain directions are issued to all the Subordinate Courts, Tribunals, the Telangana State Legal Services Authority, the Mediation and Arbitration Centre, the High Court Legal Services Committee and the Telangana State Judicial Academy:

The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) earlier issued for the District Judiciary dated June 8 shall stand deferred till further orders;

State Judicial Academy to continue taking online classes for the trainee Judicial Officers and online refresher courses for the Judicial Officers, through Video Conferencing;

Cases listed up to June 30 shall be adjourned automatically en-bloc to a working day after one month, which shall be uploaded on the District Court website as well as CIS;

Judicial Officers are to take up hearing of cases ripe for disposal, in addition to urgent civil, criminal matters and Family Court matters through video conferencing during this period;

The Judicial officers may hear matters from the Courts instead of their home offices through Video conferencing and can also instruct their staff to attend the office on turn basis to assist the Court;

Judicial Officers should dispose of all matters where arguments were heard or were reopened after hearing arguments and submit compliance report by June 28 without fail;

Unit Heads including Hyderabad and Rangareddy Districts should accept online filing of cases or physical filing wherever possible while following the Covid-19 guidelines;

Unit Heads should coordinate with District Administration to take necessary steps for disinfection of the courts and make sure that reusable masks are provided to the staff, if they have not been provided till date;

Unit heads should take steps to sensitize the staff, advocates and other stakeholders.

. Read the Notifications here .

[COVID-19] Functioning of Telangana HC, Subordinate courts suspended till end of June; Physical filing of cases in HC to start from June 15

Aishwarya Iyer

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