Delhi HC starts physical hearing of five benches on rotation basis

After a gap of five months, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday started physical hearing of its five benches on a rotation basis while the remaining benches will continue to take up matters through video conferencing.

Today, two division benches and three single-judge benches are holding physical hearings. The five Benches will take up matters as per the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) in view of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"Pursuant to the directions contained in the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) approved by this Court, the entry time to the court blocks for attending physical hearing shall be regulated as per the time slots for different batches of cases. Each batch shall consist of 10 cases," Delhi High Court Registrar General Manoj Jain said in a statement.

"Entry of the first batch to the particular floor of the court block shall take place at 10:00 am, second batch shall be permitted entry to a designated waiting space inside the court block at 11.15 am and the third batch at 12.15 pm. No person shall be permitted entry inside the court blocks before the designated time slot. All concerned are requested to co-operate," it added.

As per the roster, a division bench headed by Delhi High Court Chief Justice DN Patel is holding a physical hearing on September 1 and 2.

Besides, another division bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Rajnish Bhatnagar, and three single-judge benches are also holding physical court hearing. The three single-judge bench are of Justice Jayant Nath, Justice V Kameswar Rao and Justice Yogesh Khanna.

The Delhi High Court had suspended its functioning since March 23, followed by the government decision to imposed lockdown in wake of containing COVID-19. However, the High Court continued to take up urgent matters through video conferencing.

( With inputs from ANI )