CJI SA Bobde threatens to shut down courts amid Coronavirus scare

New Delhi: Chief Justice of India SA Bobde on Wednesday threatened to shut down the courts, worried by the crowds thronging the Supreme Court despite a truncated court and a shorter list of cases amid the spread of Covid-19 infections in the country, reports Samanwaya Rautray. He also further pruned the number of benches sitting in court on Thursday and confined court work to cases involving liberty of individuals to signal his seriousness in tackling the problem.“Why are so many people roaming around the court corridors?” the CJI demanded to know from lawyers in his court. “If this can’t be controlled, we will shut down the courts.”

The CJI then asked senior advocate Sanjay Hegde to suggest measures to further control crowding in the court rooms. “We can’t ask everyone to take care of themselves,” he said.