The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate 11's court at Mayo Hall complex in Bengaluru has been sealed for two days starting Thursday after a police constable posted there tested positive for coronavirus, a court official said on Wednesday.
"As the constable attached to the magistrate's court has tested positive on Wednesday, the Karnataka High Court Chief Justice has ordered sealing the entire Mayo Hall complex on June 11-12," High Court Registrar General Rajendra Badamikar said in an order.
As the entire complex will be sanitised, all appointments granted to the members of the bar for physical filing, payment of court fee and process fee, and hearings shall be cancelled in all courts of the complex on Thursday and Friday.
"The Principal City Civil & Sessions Judge, Bengaluru, will ensure that in case of urgency, the matters may be heard only through video conferencing," said Badamikar in the order. Most urgent cases in the Karnataka High Court are already being heard via video conferencing.
This is the second time in a week that the Mayo Hall complex has been closed to the public due to a coronavirus case. On June 5, the Registrar General of the Karnataka High Court had issued a notice regarding the closure of the complex after an accused who appeared before the courts had tested positive virus.
“In view of testing positive for COVID-19 by an accused, who was produced before the (Tenth) Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Mayo Hall unit, Bengaluru on June 1, 2020, at 4.45 pm, in order to sanitize the entire premises of the Mayo Hall Court Complex, all the appointments granted to the members of the Bar for physical filing, payment of court fee, process fee etc., including physical hearing shall stand cancelled in all the Courts in Mayo Hall unit at Bengaluru, on Saturday, June 6, 2020. No one shall enter the entire Mayo Hall Complex on Saturday, June 6, 2020,” the order had then stated.