Gujarat High Court hears 111 matters through video conferencing in a day, 59 matters disposed of

The Gujarat High Court yesterday heard a total of 111 matters, out of which 59 were disposed of (including 10 interim applications). The Court took up these matters through video conferencing from the residence of the judges, given the restriction functioning of the High Court amid the COVID-19 lockdown..The Chief Justice of the High Court of Gujarat had constituted one Division Bench and five Single Judges Benches to hear the urgent matters that were listed for the day. .Advocates appearing for the State as well as the litigants took part in the hearings through video conferencing from their respective offices and residences. A press release issued by the High Court further informs,."None of the advocates or advocate-clerks or litigants had to come to the High Court premises for conducting these matters. As such, the entry of learned advocates, advocate-clerks and litigants is not allowed in the High Court since the imposition of lockdown by the Government.".The required number of personnel coming to High Court premises was maintained at minimal. Further, the personnel who came to Court for taking the case files and preparing the cause-list, were provided special protective arrangements for their sanitization. One of the measures so taken was the installation of a sanitisation tunnel at the Gujarat High Court's entry point.."... the Sanitization Tunnel has already been installed from which all the personnel entering the premises have to compulsorily pass through. The files being taken out and the vehicles carrying those files are also being sanitized with the help of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. Sufficient number of masks and hand gloves have also been provided to the officers and the staff coming to High Court premises for work relating to listing of these urgent matters."Press Release.[COVID-19] Mass Sanitisation Tunnel installed in Gujarat HC to disinfect persons entering the High Court.The IT Cell of the High Court also developed a new mechaism, whereby the SMS of the Video Conferencing Meeting Invite web-link could be sent, in integration with the causelist of the day, right from the residence of the Judges to the Advocate concerned and the counsels appearing for the State..Additionally, for matters listed tomorrow onward, the online display board of the High Court at http://gujarathighcourt.nic.in/boarddisplay has been reprogrammed to automatically display the current matter i.e. the matter in which the SMS of Video Conference link has last been sent for the particular Court..On the directions of the Chief Justice, the present arrangement of the Court functioning through video conferencing to hear matters from their residences is expected to continue as long as the crisis period persists..Read the Press release here: