[COVID-19 Lockdown Extension] Meghalaya HC suspends Court functioning till May 3, issues guidelines for e-filing and video conferencing

The Meghalaya High Court and its subordinate Courts have suspended Court functioning until May 3 owing to the extended Coronavirus Lockdown declared yesterday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi..The circular issued in this regard informs that all Courts would function as per the modalities already notified for taking up extremely urgent matters. As understood from the latest circular, video conference hearings would be conducted through the Vidyo app. .Coronavirus: Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya High Courts issue precautionary measures, only urgent matters to be heard for next two weeks.Additionally, the Court has also issued the following guidelines for video-conferencing and e-filing:.All petitions, applications, etc. will have be sent to the Registrar General/ Joint Registrar (Judicial) via email with a memo, not exceeding 2 pages, stating reasons for the urgent hearing. The complete details of the learned Counsel/ Party-in-person, including name, address, identity proof, contact number and email address, etc., shall be mentioned in the urgent application. The Counsel/ Party-in-person praying for listing of a pending matter in extremely urgent category shall inform the opposite party and/ or their counsel in advance. Such proof of service to the opposite side should be filed along with the application.The Judges/ Judge shall decide whether to take up the matter or otherwise, depending on the gravity of the situation. The petition/ all the pleadings, not exceeding 15 pages, will be sent as a PDF in a single email, between 10 am and 1 pm, on all working days i.e., between Monday and Friday.The URL/ Link, including the time slot and the date allotted, will be shared by email/ SMS/ WhatsApp to the concerned parties prior to the date of Court sitting. The proceedings will be conducted through video conferencing via Vidyo app.The Counsel/ Party-in-person may submit the hardcopy of the application upon resumption of normal work. In that event, the matter will be deemed to be presented on the date when the softcopy thereof was emailed. Court Fees are to be paid later on after the Court resumes normal work. For any technical assistance, the Advocates/Party in person have been directed to contact Dashalene Kharbteng, Central Project Coordinator, High Court of Meghalaya (+919862584105/ cpc-mgl@aij.gov.in]..This apart, certain general guidelines have also been issued by the Court that, inter alia, direct the participants to refrain from using any recording device to record the proceedings during the Video Conference hearings and further cautions third parties from intervening during the proceedings..[Read circular here]