The functioning of the Meghalaya High Court will be altered from the present complete virtual mode to a hybrid mode (offline and online) from next week and, depending on the Covid position at the end of the next week, regular physical hearing may resume soon thereafter.
However, the hearing on the virtual mode would be an option, particularly for those more vulnerable and those not willing to travel to the court.
This was decided in a hearing held today by the division bench of Meghalaya High Court comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh after examining the detailed affidavit filed by the State Health Secretary on the Covid-19 situation in the State.
According to the affidavit, the third wave of the pandemic has peaked and the positivity rate has declined from the peak level of 13.6 per cent to below 8 per cent. However, nearly 40 per cent of the positive cases are said to have been asymptomatic and the rate of hospitalisation was nominal.
The affidavit also details the effective measures taken for vaccination and it appears that 71 per cent of vaccination of the first dose has been completed and more than 51 per cent of the second dose has also been administered. In addition, the administration of the booster dose has commenced.
Several measures taken, the notifications issued, the awareness programmes conducted to ensure that the pandemic does not spread and the precautionary measures adopted have also been detailed in the government affidavit.
On this, the High Court said that the State government’s efforts to arrest the pandemic to ensure that there is no loss of life should continue unabated, based on medical advice and scientific reports. Further, in the light of the measures taken by the government, the High Court said that no interference is needed by the court.
“In the light of the said affidavit, it appears that the functioning of the High Court may be altered from the complete virtual mode as of now to a hybrid mode in course of next week and, depending on the position at the end of the next week, regular physical hearing may be resumed soon thereafter. However, the hearing on the virtual mode should be an option, particularly for those more vulnerable and those not willing to travel to Court,” the division bench said while also listing the matter for hearing on March 10.
