100 judicial officers, 400 staffers test positive in lower courts of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh

Saurabh Malik
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 30

The crisis in the justice delivery system has deepened further. Nearly 100 judicial officers and 400 staffers in the subordinate judiciary, besides advocates and law officers, have tested positive for Covid.

Describing the situation as “alarming” in the district courts across Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, Registrar Vigilance-cum-PRO Vikram Aggarwal said the spouse of a judicial officer in Punjab and an employee of the Punjab and Haryana High Court had also expired because of the complications arising out of Covid.

Aggarwal said two High Court Judges, three judicial officers and 62 officials in the High Court were, till April 29, Covid positive. The District and Sessions Judges in the States of Punjab, Haryana and Union Territory, Chandigarh, had also been asked to assess the situation and take steps accordingly.

Keeping in view the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in the tricity, lockdown in Chandigarh after 6 pm and the worsening situation of medical/healthcare facilities in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, the High Court has also made it clear that only extreme urgent cases would be taken up through videoconference. The conditions would be monitored by its committee and relaxations for filing and listing of the cases would be considered with the improvement of Covid-19 situation.

All types of matters, including freshly instituted pleas and applications in pending matters, would be accepted for filing from May 3. But “mentioning” through 'online mentioning' web-portal would have to be made.

The urgency for listing cases would he determined by the Bench nominated for mentioning by the Chief Justice.  All matters in which the mentioning has been accepted would be staggered in the future dates. In legal parlance, mentioning denotes request for hearing cases. In normal circumstances, mentioning indicates.