Virtual hearings will continue at the Bombay High Courts principal seat in Mumbai through the month of June 2021, owing to the covid situation in the city. The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by justice Deepankar Datta on June 8th 2021 Tuesday.
The Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Chahal and several stakeholders, including the administrative committee judges of the Bombay High Court, representatives of State, Union and bar associations, were present at the meeting.
Following lawyers request, the Chief Justice agreed for single and division bench judges to convene for hearing three days a week instead of twice a week.
An Standard Operating Procedure to this effect will be released soon.
Regarding the reopening of the subordinate judiciary in Maharashtra, including district and magistrate courts, the decision has been left to Principal District Judges.
Another meeting to review the situation is now likely to be held on July 1st 2021.
The Bombay High Court decided to go back to virtual and hybrid format of proceedings in April owing to the surge in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra.
