Mumbai News

Coronavirus update: 2-hour work-day in Bombay HC, 3-hour for district courts from tomorrow – Livemint

MUMBAI :
The Bombay high court and its benches at Nagpur, Aurangabad and Goa will function for only two hours in a day from Tuesday until further orders in view of the coronavirus (also known as COVID-19) outbreak.

The high court today issued a circular after a meeting held by acting chief justice B.P. Dharmadhikari and other senior judges.

The circular also said that all district courts in Maharashtra will also endeavor that their working time not exceed three hours a day, and that they take up for hearing only urgent matters.

The functioning time of the Bombay high court in Mumbai, and other benches in Nagpur, Aurangabad and Goa will be from noon to 2 pm from tomorrow till further orders, the circular issued by high court registrar S.B. Agarwal said.

Earlier, the high court had said its functioning shall be restricted to urgent matters for a week from March 16 in view of the virus threat.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray today asked district collectors to ensure there is no crowding at religious sites in view of the coronavirus threat, though worship there may continue.

Announcing several measures to contain the spread of the virus in the state, the chief minister directed that any political event, meetings should not take place.

Thackeray said foreign tours have been banned in the state and gram panchayat and other local body meetings have been postponed.

From Tuesday, measures will be in place to stop the flow of people into the state’s secretariat in south Mumbai, the chief minister informed.

Separately, the famous Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai today closed the entry of devotees in temple the till further notice, News Agency ANI reported.

Earlier, the temple administration had instructed all its employees to wear masks, and had provided hand sanitizers to everyone inside the shrine.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a ‘pandemic’.

Coronavirus, which originated in China’s Wuhan city, has so far spread to more than 100 countries.

The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in India rose to 110, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Sunday. So far, two deaths due to have been reported in the country – one from Delhi and the other from Karnataka.

Source: https://www.livemint.com/news/india/coronavirus-update-2-hour-work-day-in-bombay-hc-3-hour-for-district-courts-from-tomorrow-11584361293851.html