The Tamil Nadu Advocates Association (TNAA) on Monday wrote to Madras High Court Chief Justice AP Sahi requesting him to temporarily suspend all court proceedings across the state to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus.
"The least we can do to break the chain and help the government and public healthcare professionals to achieve their target of flattening the COVID-19 curve at this crucial juncture is to declare holidays for courts," TNAA said in a letter.
The association said that the continued working of courts across the state exposes the legal fraternity to a huge risk of infection, spread, hospitalisation, and the associated expenses.
"Unless all the High Courts and subordinate courts in Tamil Nadu are closed, except for extremely urgent cases which should be explained to registry officials over the phone and obtain nod for filing, the legal fraternity, litigant public, officials, registry personnel and others will continue to crowd court premises throwing caution about social distancing to the wind," it said.
It suggested that the lost working days can be compensated by working on Saturdays and adjusted in other holidays.
This comes as at least 415 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported across the country.
Earlier, the Centre and state governments decided to completely shut down 75 districts across the country where coronavirus cases have been reported till March 31.
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