COVID-19: Orissa High Court switches to virtual hearing of cases from Jan 10 to Feb 4

“All the Benches shall function only through video conference during the period from January 10, 2022 till February 4, 2022,” a notification issued yesterday stated.

The following guidelines were issued by the Registrar (Judicial) of the High Court in this regard:

1. Offices of the High Court shall function with 50% strength of employees during the period from 10th January, 2022 till 4th February, 2022.

2. The roster for 50% attendance of employees shall be prepared by the Superintendents in such a manner that the employees are required to attend office on alternate days and they shall not leave the headquarters during the above period.

3. Except the Officers and staff of the Court, there shall be restrictions for others over entry into the High Court. In a case where there is specific direction of any Bench for removal of defects, the Advocate concerned may come to the High Court.

4. Filing of cases and documents shall be done through e-Filing portal as usual or through Drop Box from 10:30 AM to 2:00 PM.

5. For listing of cases, mention shall be made by filing Mention Memos in the Drop Box between 11:00 AM and 12:00 Noon.

6. Urgent matters where oral mentioning is felt necessary may be done before the Deputy Registrar (Judicial) through Video Conferencing between 11:00 AM and 12:00 Noon.

7. Usual practice of grant of certified copies shall remain suspended.

The notification also stated that functioning of the Lawzima Courts shall remain suspended, while the medical dispensaries in the High Court and the Security Personnel deployed there shall function as usual.

The Supreme Court and various High Courts including Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Gauhati, Karnataka, Telangana, Patna, Jharkhand, Madras, Bombay, Calcutta and Delhi High Courts have reverted to virtual hearing while the Allahabad High Court is hearing cases via hybrid mode.

At least four judges of the Supreme Court have tested positive for COVID-19.

Judges at various High Courts including Bombay, Uttarakhand, Calcutta and Allahabad High Courts have also tested positive for COVID.

Source: Barandbench