Gauhati High Court to restrict court functioning with 'staggered roster'

GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court, including the Outlying Benches and subordinate courts in the States of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have adopted the mode of "Restricted Court Functioning" with "Staggered Roster" so as to ensure social distancing for safety of the litigants, lawyers, judges and court support staff. So as to ensure that the court complexes do not become the cause of spread of coronavirus, only limited number of cases is listed in pre-lunch; and post-lunch sessions of the courts. "The number of cases thus listed is calculated considering the space available in the court rooms and corridors/court complexes so that there is no congestion in any part of the court complexes. Even the chairs have been placed at 5 to 6 feet distance in court rooms and corridors and extra ones have been removed," stated a release from the Registrar General, Gauhati High Court. All roster subjects are dealt with, at all levels of adjudication. While the judeges sit on the chambers, lawyers address arguments from the court rooms; or from remote locations. Only those lawyers/litigants whose names are printed in the cause list are allowed entry in the courts so as to minimize foot falls.