Courts resume physical hearing after 3 months in Jammu and Kashmir

They were functioning via virtual mode from April this year after J&K witnessed a surge in COVID19 positive cases.

At the main entrance of the Srinagar court complex here, the litigants were asked to show COVID19  vaccination certificates.

Advocate Mir Naveed Gul said that lawyers followed SOPs in letter and spirit. “The lawyers themselves restricted their entry in a manner that only those would enter the court whose cases were listed today,”  he said.

He said that advocates maintained the social distance and followed other SOPs while waiting for the hearing of their cases.

Witnesses and accused persons were permitted in the courts subject to strict compliance with the latest SOPs pertaining to the containment of COVID19 and vaccination.

As per the directions, canteens located in the premises of the Srinagar Court Complex also reopened but only with fifty per cent sitting capacity and strict observance of all the relevant SOPs and instructions.

Earlier, the order regarding resumption of physical hearing had provided that advocates into the courtrooms shall be regulated case-wise and general entry in courtrooms shall continue to remain prohibited.

As per the order, only those advocates, staff members and any other stakeholder are permitted entry in the court premises who have been vaccinated.

With the resumption of the physical hearing, the entry of clerks and agents of the advocates into the courtrooms continued to be prohibited.