The Chief Justice of the M.P. High Court has ordered to suspend the hearing of cases even through video conferencing upto 3-5-2020 only at the Indore Bench. However, hearing of cases via video conferencing will remain operational at the Gwalior Bench and at the Principal Bench at Jabalpur.
The decision was taken after considering the present scenario and spread of COVID-19 in Indore city. As per the information received by the Court, there are more than 1000 COVID-19 +ve cases and 171 identified hotspots in Indore city, out of which 20 are declared highly sensitive. Notably, 1 employee of the Indore Bench Registry has been found positive for COVID-19 and some officials have been quarantined.
Earlier, in the wake of unprecedented and uncertain situation due to outbreak of COVID-19, the Court working was deferred from 25-3-2020 to 14-4-2020 by a notification issued by the High Court. The operation of that notification was extended till 3-5-2020.
As per the Video Conferencing and E-Filing Guidelines dated 15-4-2020/16-4-2020, it was directed that urgent matters shall be filed through e-filing or through email and hearing of the cases may be conducted through video conferencing.
Madhya Pradesh High Court