HC expresses shock over Madurai Bench staff not available in station

02/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, CHENNAI

The Madras High Court administration has expressed shock over some of its staff in the Madurai Bench having moved out of the headquarters despite the lockdown imposed by the government across the State to fight COVID-19 and instructions issued by the court to remain in station and be available for duty on call.

In a circular, Registrar (Administration) V. Devanathan recalled that the High Court’s Registrar General C. Kumarappan had on March 24 permitted all employees of the High Court in Chennai and Madurai to stay at home to safeguard them and their families from the threat posed by COVID-19.

He had instructed the High Court staff to remain in station and be available to attend emergency calls since the court had decided to hear extremely urgent cases alone, through video conferencing, with the assistance of skeleton staff. This required the presence of technical staff, stenographers and others.

 The circular read: “It has been brought to the notice of the Registry that many have left the headquarters without permission of the Registry and are not available for emergency work. A few staff who are available alone have to be deputed for various tasks repeatedly. “Non availability of any individual, at the time of calling, will be treated as a violation of the High Court’s instructions.”