New Delhi, 14/3: The Supreme Court will only hear matters that are “urgent” and no persons except the lawyers concerned will be allowed inside the courtrooms from March 16. Furthermore, only six Division Benches of the top court will function from March 16 onwards, instead of the usual 14 Benches. The decision was taken by the Supreme Court in the wake of the widespread coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) outbreak.
The top court’s officials met at Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad Arvind Bobde’s residence on March 12-13 to ponder over the steps that need to be taken in the wake of the virus outbreak.