The Apex Court today (March 23, 2020) has ordered shut down of the court room premises to due to the pandemic of COVID 19. The lawyer’s chambers in the Supreme Court will also remain closed. Members of the Supreme Court Bar, office staff and the Supreme Court's registry staff will not be working till April 04, 2020. 

In-person hearings are given a hold till further orders. Only in extremely urgent matters, the court will conduct video conferencing to hear those matters. 

The bench comprising of CJI S A Bobde, Justices L N Rao and Surya Kant have said that the Supreme Court administration will temporarily cancel all proximity cards to dissuade the lawyers from coming to the court. 

Further to which, they said, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Dushyant Dave will be the only person who can authorize lawyers to enter the top court's premises for urgent reasons. Thereby putting a stoppage on any kind of gatherings of lawyers on the premises. 

The Prime Minister of India himself has appealed to the citizens of India to administer the lockdown on a serious note and requested the state governments to follow the rules and regulations accordingly. He tweeted: "Many people are still not taking the lockdown seriously. Please save yourself, save your family, follow the instructions seriously. I request the state governments to follow the rules and Get the laws done".

A total number of cases that have been reported confirmed have risen up to 415 with many of the cases being reported from Maharashtra. 

Author - Dyuti Pandya