Telangana HC Extends the lockdown till April 30

Hyderabad: On Tuesday, the full court comprising of all the high court judges met through video conference and interacted with bar leaders and medical experts who have access to COVID-19 situation and have taken two important decisions.

The first decision was taken to prolong the lockdown of courts till 30th April, and the second decision was to rescind the summer vacation of courts in Telangana. This means that all district courts and high courts will function this year from 1st May to 5th June, which has been known as the summer vacation in the past.

The full court has resolved that the courts will function in summer. As far as the current lockdown is concerned full court met which was presided over by Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan, interacted with Dr. K Shankar Institute of Preventive Medicine Director who has suggested phased lifting of lockdown instead of opening all sectors simultaneously which is filled with concern like gathering of the crowd.

The advocates will make their submission through video conferencing or skype to the honorable bench, who will make the cases from their home – offices. The detailed procedure of filing the cases online and making a submission through video conference has already been published as a separate circular in the High Court’s Website.

The full court also took into the confidence of A Narsimha Reddy Bar Council Chairman, Suryakaran Reddy Bar Association President have decided to extend the court till the end of April. On 25th April, the full court will meet again to review the situation. But the courts will continue to hear the urgent modes but in a virtual mode only.

It has also been decided that in the coming weeks, they might relax this norm and might take the final hearing matter through the same virtual mode if the possibility of ending the lockdown appears to be gloomy in the near future.

The Judicial employees of the state have also come forward to donate their one day salary towards Chief Justice Relief Fund, and the same will be deducted from their April salary and will be deposited to the CM relief fund to add to the state’s resolve in its fight against the corona.