CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Monday ordered the suspension of all judicial work in subordinate courts in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry till further orders. According to a memorandum issued by the registrar general of the High Court, except for remand purposes and other unavoidable matters, all judicial work in subordinate courts in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will remain suspended.
During the hearing on Monday, Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee said the decision was taken because of the surge in Covid-19 cases in the State and the death of a district principal sessions judge in Tirunelveli due to Covid-19 infection.
Also, the court on Monday extended all the existing interim orders granted by the courts as of April 30 till June 30. “Since it may not be able to produce remand prisoners before courts, all remands stand extended till June 30. This would apply without prejudice to rights of affected persons to be released on bail in the meantime,” the First Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy said.
Notice to govt on plea seeking to quash G.O.
Chennai: The High Court on Monday ordered notices to the government and a section of private-manufacturing units to respond to a plea moved by a group of workers, alleging that the sector is functioning despite the total lockdown. The petition sought to quash a G.O. classifying automobile manufacturing and auto-component units as essential-commodities and continuous-process industries. The First Bench observed that it was a policy decision of the State. “We will leave it open for the government since we don’t have the required data to completely lock these industries,” observed the Bench.