Coronavirus scare: Delhi HC holds emergency meeting, restricts functioning to urgent matters

The Delhi High Court on Friday held an emergency meeting to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus in court premises and decided that from March 16 it will only hear urgent matters.

It also decided not to insist on personal appearance of parties (litigants) unless it is indispensable, said an advisory issued by the court after the meeting.

The meeting was attended by the Administrative and General Supervision Committee of the high court and president and honorary secretary of the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) "to contain the spread of pandemic coronavirus".

The high court also issued an advisory for regulating the entry of litigants in district courts to avoid crowding. It suggested that video-conferencing facilities be put to optimum use for recording evidence.

This comes hours after the Supreme Court took a similar decision.