As a preventive measure against the outbreak of COVID-19, the Allahabad High Court on Monday said it would take up only urgent matters till further notice.
The courts shall not insist on personal presence of parties till it is ‘unavoidable’, it said.
So far, 13 positive cases have been reported in Uttar Pradesh with the maximum 8 in Agra, two each in Ghaziabad and Lucknow and one in Noida. Of these, three persons have recovered while five are under surveillance, the Directorate of Health Services said.
In a press statement, Ashish Kumar Srivastava, Registrar of the HC, said: “Till further orders, only urgent matters will be taken up by the court.”
The lawyers having urgent cases alone may appear before the court to avoid crowding, the court said.
“In case any lawyer or client is not present, the matter would be rotated with the same caption and no adverse order owing to absence of the advocate or client would be passed,” the court said.
The HC also directed the State government to establish a laboratory in Prayagraj to conduct pathological tests.
The government has so far sent 810 samples from U.P. for testing. Of these, 709 have been found negative while 88 results are still awaited.
The government also said it had held sanitisation meetings in 2,000 villages on the Indo-Nepal border.
