The Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on Tuesday requested the Chief Justice of Madras High Court to defer the decision on starting regular functioning of courts during the summer vacation between May 1 to 31 as the lockdown has been extended.
Council chairman PS Amalraj in a letter to Chief Justice AP Sahi wrote, "When normalcy has not been restored and the lockdown being extended, the decision to function from May 1 is not feasible as the health-related threat still subsists.”
The council made the request as a staff attached to a government pleader's office in the High Court and a Sub Inspector in the country tested positive for COVID-19. On Saturday, a team from the Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services (DMS) visited the court and had a meeting with judges of the court following which the court premises were sanitised.
It referred to the court's April 18 notification announcing the postponement of summer vacation and decision to commence regular hearing from May 1 and said the bar had already expressed the practical difficulties in conducting cases in subordinate courts during this pandemic situation.
“The coronavirus scare which happened recently in the high court premises, clearly shows the capacity of the pathogen to create panic and fear. A few of such future occurrences in court premises are enough to infect the whole legal fraternity, including judges, staff, and others,” the communication claimed.
The Council also pointed out that subordinate courts do not have proper facilities to safely conduct proceedings. It requested that court proceedings be conducted only through video conferencing and to hear urgent matters only till the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
A few days ago, the Madras High Court released a notification suspending the summer vacation of the court making note of the “extraordinary situation”.
(With inputs from PTI)