The third wave of Covid has disrupted the physical court hearing across India. However, as the third Covid wave has weakened, the various courts in India have started shifting to physical court hearings.
Delhi High Court – Physical Hearing Resumption
The Delhi High Court and Delhi District Courts will resume the physical hearings with effect from 02.03.2022. After the complete resumption of the physical hearing, the Courts may, in exceptional circumstances on a case to case basis, permit hybrid/video-conferencing hearing.
The Hon’ble Chief Justice of Delhi High Court has given directions to constitute a suitable number of benches for physical hearings with effect from 14.02.2022 to ensure smooth transitioning from video conferencing to complete physical hearings from 02.03.2022. The remaining benches of the Court will continue to take up the matter through video conferencing till 02.03.2022. The Roster of Sitting of the Hon’ble Judges of this Court for taking Physical Court Hearings effective from 14.02.2022 to 28.02.2022 can be found at this link.
However, there is no change in the modified (due to pandemic) system of listing matters before the courts. The routine/non-urgent matters listed before the Court from 14.02.2022 to 28.02.2022 shall be adjourned en bloc once again as per the following schedule. You can locate the notice at the Delhi High Court website at this link.
Registrar/ Joint Registrar – Roster
The new notice dated 11.02.2022 discloses that the new roster of the Registrar and Joint Registrar will be available with effect from 14.02.2022.
The new roster will ensure that 50 per cent of the courts of Registrar and Joint Registrar will hear the matters in physical mode, and the remaining 50 per cent will hear the matter through video conferencing. You can locate the roster of the Registrar and Joint Registrar at this link.
Delhi District Courts – Physical Hearing Resumption
Further, the Principal District and Sessions Judges and the Principal Judge, Family Court (HQs) shall prepare a roster of judicial officers of their respective districts courts/ Family Courts in such a manner that w.e.f. 14.02.2022, around 50% of the total strength of judicial officers hold the Court physically while the others take up the matters through virtual mode. The arrangement, as mentioned earlier, shall continue till 28.02.2022. The Delhi District Courts will completely resume the physical hearings from 02.03.2022. After the complete resumption of the physical hearing, the Courts may, in exceptional circumstances on a case-to-case basis, permit hybrid/video-conferencing hearing. You can locate the notice at this link.
