Bombay HC judge issues notice to reduce overcrowding in courtroom

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 18 (ANI): Displeased by overcrowding in his courtroom and people not observing safety norms, a Bombay High Court judge on Thursday issued a notice asking people to strictly adhere to social distancing norms in the courtroom.
"There is far too much overcrowding in Court Room 37. Advocates and parties are not observing safety norms and precautions. For this reason, with immediate effect, only those who have matters in court will be permitted entry. There may be a random check and those without matters will be made to leave," said a notice by Justice Gautam Patel.
The order issued by Justice Gautam Patel further said that advocates and parties should come to Court only in accordance with their case time slots, adding that these time slots are specified at the top of the board.
"This is for a reason, which should be obvious. Advocates in the next time slot are not to come to court ahead of time. The Associate has been instructed to issue messages on the
display board if the previous time slot is delayed for any reason," further read the notice.
Patel further warned that if norms are not followed then he would suspend physical hearing and switch to online mode.
"If these minimal precautionary measures are not observed, the court will immediately suspend all physical hearings and revert to online hearings in all matters," he said in the notice.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra reported 4,787 new COVID-19 cases and 40 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the Health Ministry's statement. (ANI)