HYDERABAD: Since a complete lockdown is in place in view of Coronavirus outbreak, the Telangana High Court on Friday issued directions to all the subordinate courts, tribunals and other institutions to remain closed till April 14 or until further orders. The other directions issued by the High Court includes adjourning all cases listed up to April 14 automatically en bloc to a working day after one month.
In a notification issued on Friday, High Court Registrar General A Venkateswara Reddy stated that all the staff members of the subordinate courts and tribunals, Telangana State Legal Services Authority, Mediation and Arbitration Centre, High Court Legal Services Committee and State Judicial Academy need
not attend office, but should be available on phone, attend whenever their services are required and should not leave the headquarters.
According to the notification, if any urgent matter is required to be filed, the advocates should submit the soft copy of the same through email of the district court and should intimate the same through phone to the administrative officer concerned. The respective principal district judges/unit heads should make necessary arrangements to take up the extremely urgent criminal and civil matters such as remand, bail application and extension of remand through video conference or Skype.
Rest of the judicial officers should remain in the headquarters and attend urgent judicial work, if any, including receiving FIRs, recording of dying declarations and so on. The principal district judges and unit heads are directed to submit day-to-day reports to the High Court, he added.