Civil Cases to be Heard Virtually While Criminal Cases will be Heard Physically at Bombay High Court

Amid the alarming increase in the Covid-19 cases in the state of Maharashtra, Chief Justice Dipankar Datta led committee on Monday decided that civil matters will be heard virtually and criminal cases will be heard physically. 

Mumbai noticed one of the highest single-day Covid-19 spikes of cases resulting in a partial lockdown imposed by the Maharashtra government in a notification late on Sunday.

According to the notice, all non-essential services would be shut.

According to the notification night, curfew would be from 8 PM to 7 AM and more than 5 people cannot gather between 7 am to 8 pm.

The Bombay Bar Association has been in favour of adopting a hybrid model while there were mixed reactions to the Bar Association's suggestion, the matter was brought up again on 5th April.

Dicison on District and Magistrate Courts in Maharashtra 

The district and magistrate courts in Maharashtra will work in two shifts of two hours each. The courts are required to list urgent matters only and are prohibited from passing adverse orders because the lawyers might fail to appear.

The new arrangement is to be followed from Wednesday, April 7.