The Kerala High Court will be shut down for two weeks from March 24, in the wake of the increasing spread of coronavirus, according to a report from Live Law.
Following this, from April 9 the court will remain closed for summer vacation.
However, during these two weeks of shutdown the court will function on Thursdays and Fridays for urgent matters. This would include sentence suspension, custody, Habeas Corpus, bails and public interest litigation petitions of urgent nature.
As of Sunday night, Kerala has reported 67 confirmed cases of COVID-19, out of which three had earlier recovered. On Sunday alone, 15 new cases were confirmed, coming in from five districts, mostly returnees from Gulf countries. This has led to 11 of the 14 districts in the state being affected by the virus.
On Sunday, Kerala government had rejected reports of a lockdown in seven districts in the state affected by coronavirus while a press note from the Chief Minister’s office said that strict restrictions are already in place. Only in Kasaragod has a lockdown been imposed, since it has the highest number of COVID-19 cases. However, in light of four more districts being affected, a high-level meeting led by the Chief Minister has been called for on Monday.
Restrictions have also been brought to Cochin Refinery, after it was noticed that employees come in a group together. Ernakulam District Collector S Suhas gave instructions to change the time in which different employees come so that a large group does not arrive at the office at the same time. Timings for taking lunch breaks would also be different for employees to avoid rush at lunch hour.
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