Amid the virulent outbreak of COVID-19 globally, every possible measure is being taken by the authorities, to prevent its spread. On Monday, an 8-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DN Patel decided to suspend the operations of Delhi High Court and District Courts till April 4, considering the threat of COVID-19 under Section 4 of Limitations Act.

The suspension notice was issued by Delhi High Court’s Registrar General. The matters of extreme urgency will be heard either through phone calls or via video conferencing.

All court complexes, courtrooms, chamber blocks, and sub-ordinate court complexes will remain closed as per the orders, except for the mandatory authorities, in special circumstances.

All the District and Session court judges are directed to formulate a special roster of Judicial officers to look into all fresh matters.

Advocates can contact the administrative officer nominated for each district to hear all the matters of extreme urgency.

The Delhi High Court has already been hearing the urgent matters only on a restricted basis since March 16.

Till now, 415 patients are tested positive for COVID-19 and 7 deaths have been reported till Sunday. A Philippines return 68-year old man who has recovered and tested negative after the treatment, has died in Mumbai today. Centre and state governments have declared complete lockdown in 8 districts which includes the states/UTs Delhi, Maharashtra, Kerala, Haryana Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, West Bengal, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Puducherry, and Uttarakhand.