[COVID-19] Madras High Court extends interim orders till June 30; suspends judicial work in subordinate courts

In view of the ongoing COVID-19 situation, the Madras High Court on Monday extended the life of interim orders subsisting as of April 30 until June 30, 2021 (In re extension of remand and interim orders)..The order was pronounced this afternoon by a Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy. .Invoking its powers under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India, as well as Sections 482-483 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the Court has issued the following directions:.1. Interim orders passed by the Madras High Court (both Principal Bench at Chennai and the Madurai Bench) that were subsisting on April 30, 2021, shall stand extended till June 30, 2021, unless vacated or modified earlier, or until further orders of the Court or unless specifically dealt with by any juducial order to the contrary.2. Orders of eviction, dispossession, demolition that have not been executed till date shall remain in abeyance till June 30, 2021, unless the stay is expressly vacated or the order of stay expressly modified by any judicial order passed by an appropriate forum.3. All orders passed by the Courts exercising criminal jurisdiction, including orders of bail, anticipatory bail, parole which are for a limited period and likely to expire on or before June 30, 2021, shall stand extended till June 30, subject to any orders passed by the relevant forum even prior to the expiry of such date or thereafter to enable the respective court to deal with any abuse of orders.4. These directions will be subject to orders to the contrary passed or that may be passed by the Supreme Court in any individual matter.5. In case of extreme hardships, on account of the continuation of any interim order, the party aggrieved may apply for the discharge or discontinuation thereof before the relevant court.6. Interim orders or directions not of a limited duration shall continue to operate, unaffected by this order.7. Encroachment drives or measures taken for the recovery of revenue or proceedings relating to demolition or eviction should, as far practical, not be undertaken by the State and be temporarily kept in abeyance, except with the previous advice of the Advocate General.8. Since it may not be possible to produce remand prisoners for extension of remand under Sections 167 and 309 of the CrPC before various courts in the State, either in person or via video conferencing, all remand orders stand extended till June 30, 2021, without prejudice to the right of the arrested person to be released on bail in the mean time. Notably, the Court today has also ordered the revival of the High Powered Committee tasked with looking into the release of prisoners amid the COVID-19 pandemic, so that prisons are not overcrowded. .The matter will be reviewed in last week of June. .Whereas the Court was also urged to pass orders today to extend the limitation period, the Chief Justice pointed out that this issue was in the domain of the Supreme Court. As a High Court, the Bench does not have the powers to issue such a direction under Article 142, Chief Justice Banerjee observed. .Earlier in the day, the Court had already suspended judicial work in the subordinate courts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, except for the purposes of remand and other unavoidable matters. .By the said notification, litigants and lawyers have been prohbited from entering subordinate court complexes unless it is unavoidable and with the permission of the judge in charge. Judicial officers and court staff have been asked not to attend Court unless absolutely unnecessary. .This notification was also referred to in the High Court's order passed this afternoon, which stated:."In the wake of the second surge of the pandemic and the many judicial officers and members of the staff in the subordinate judiciary being attacked by the virus, administrative directions have been issued to suspend judicial work expect in matters pertaining to production, remand and other areas which need immediate attention.".It is in this backdrop, the above directions for the extension of various interim orders have been issued..[Read the High Court order].[Read the notifiction suspending judicial work]