Covid-19 here to stay, resume courts: Bombay High Court lawyers to Chief Justice
The lawyers have said that 90 fresh petitions are being filed daily, on an average, during the lockdown.
Mumbai: Senior lawyers of the Bombay high court have written to Chief Justice Dipankar Datta requesting him to consider allowing regular court proceedings despite the lockdown, as restrictions like social distancing etc are likely to continue for a long time.
The letters said that since it is unlikely that Covid-19 will be eradicated in the near future. Eventually, one will have to accept the “new normal” and resume life with necessary restrictions.
The lawyers have said that 90 fresh petitions are being filed daily, on an average, during the lockdown. Around 4.5 lakh cases were pending till June 30, 2019. Considering this, there will be a huge backlog of cases. Hence they have requested the CJ to consider resuming regular functioning of court at full strength. The CJ is yet to reply to this representation.
The lawyers who have written the letters include Iqbal Chagla, Janak Dwarkadas, Novroz Seervai, Anil Sakhee, AV Anturkar, Vijay Thorat and others.