Orissa High Court to function virtually from Jan 10

Bureau,Odishabarta

Bhubaneswar: The Orissa High Court will function in virtual mode from January 10 as coronavirus cases continue to spiral in the State. The High Court, subordinate courts and tribunals will function with 50 per cent staff on a rotation basis on each working day till February 4 in accordance with the latest guidelines issued by Odisha Government.

In an order issued on Friday, the judicial registrar said all the benches of the High Court will only function through video conferencing during the period due to the increase in coronavirus cases and its Omicron variant. Except for the officers and staff of the High Court, there will be restrictions for others on the entry into the campus, according to the order.

However, in a case where there is a specific direction of any bench, an advocate may come for removal of errors or shortcomings in the legal documents after informing the Deputy Registrar, it said.

The offices will function with 50 per cent strength, except officers in the rank of Assistant Registrar and above, it added. For the lower courts, another order directed the district and sessions judges and the presiding officers of the tribunals to strictly follow the guidelines regarding physical attendance. The State recorded 3,679 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, 36 per cent higher than the previous day and the biggest single-day spike since June 18 last year.

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