High Court of Delhi Limits Functioning, Adjourns Routine Matters, Initiates Writ Petition for Extension of Interim Orders

The High Court of Delhi restricted its functioning to only extremely urgent matters due to the Covid-19 resurgence. Routine matters filed between 22.3.2020 and 31.12.2020 were adjourned en bloc. In response, the Chief Justice initiated a writ petition to address the extension of interim orders. The Court directed the registration of the petition as a suo motu Writ Petition for necessary orders.

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Issues:
Restriction of Court functioning due to Covid-19 resurgence

Analysis:
The High Court of Delhi restricted its functioning to only extremely urgent matters in light of the alarming resurgence of Covid-19. The Office Order dated 18.04.2021 specified that all Hon'ble Benches would take up extremely urgent matters filed in 2021 only. Routine/non-urgent matters and those filed/listed between 22.3.2020 and 31.12.2020 would not be taken up and adjourned en bloc. The GNCTD imposed a curfew from 19.04.2021 to 26.04.2021 to prevent the spread of Covid-19. This curfew, coupled with the limited court functioning, led to routine matters being adjourned en-bloc, affecting the appearance of advocates and litigants, potentially causing interim orders to expire.

In response to the crisis, similar to a situation last year, the Chief Justice initiated a writ petition titled Court on its Own Motion v. State & Ors. for dealing with the extension of interim orders. The present situation was deemed to require a similar response. Consequently, the Court directed the registration of the present petition as a suo motu Writ Petition to be listed before the Chief Justice for the constitution of an appropriate bench and passing necessary orders.

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