Supreme Court Hearing Deferred Twice After Judge Says Staff Covid +ve

A Supreme Court hearing via video conference was deferred twice today after one of the judges said that several of his staff members at home had tested positive for COVID-19.

The Supreme Court bench took a break for a few minutes following which it reconvened.

A senior Supreme Court judge told NDTV, "Several judges' residences have also been affected because of Covid infection."

Justice MR Shah was part of a bench with Justice DY Chandrachud.

When the bench reconvened, Justice Chandrachud said "We will come back at 2 pm. (Justice) Shah ji is attending some issues at his residence."

The bench reconvered later and heard matters.

Last Saturday, 44 of 90 court employees tested positive for COVID-19, sparking panic among some judges.

After experimenting with a "hybrid mode" briefly, the Supreme Court is holding hearings via video conferencing from judges' residence.

With a large number of Supreme Court staff members getting infected in the second wave of the pandemic, the court on Wednesday made a Covid test mandatory for everyone who enters its premises with symptoms of the fast-spreading disease.

The court, in a circular, also said that people with fever, body ache or loss of smell should not come to court and isolate themselves. If found with any symptoms, the staff as well as advocates must undergo an RT-PCR test or a Rapid Antigen Test. The RT-PCR test is considered the gold standard in coronavirus testing.