CITY CIVIL AND SESSIONS COURT, GR. BOMBAY.

OFFICE ORDER NO.166 OF 2020

Upon considering the directions issued by the Hon'ble High Court, Bombay in Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) dated 27.11.2020, communicated vide even dated letter No. Insp-I/132/2020, I, Shrinivas B. Agrawal, Principal Judge, City Civil Court and Sessions Judge, Gr. Bombay, DO HEREBY ORDER THAT the City Civil and Sessions Court, Gr. Bombay, at Fort, and its branch at Dindoshi, Mumbai, shall start regular functioning with effect from 01.12.2020, in two shifts with 100% presence of the Judicial Officers and the staff in each shift, by observing the 'Court' working timing as 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. WHEREAS, the 'Office' shall function from 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., which means that all the officers & employees in Group A to C and the Court Managers shall attend the office on all working days from 01.12.2020 between 10:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. and the employees in Group D cadre shall remain present in the office on all working days half an hour before and after the aforesaid office hours. DO HEREBY FURTHER ORDER THAT all the concerned to follow the guidelines in respect of Judicial and Administrative work and to adhere to, the Safety/Precautionary measures as specified in the SOP dated 27.11.2020 (attached herewith) and all the directions / guidelines / SOPs / Advisories issued by the Government of and the State Government in respect of COVID-19 Protocol. All concerned should also follow the general instructions, Entry-Exit point chart and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in respect of mentioning of matters at Main Branch, attached herewith. Standard Operating Procedure in respect of hearing of cases through Video Conferencing will be issued shortly. ...2. : 2 :

The aforesaid arrangement shall remain in force until further orders. City Civil and Sessions Court, ) Greater Mumbai ) sd/- ) (Shrinivas B. Agrawal) Date: 27th November, 2020 ) Principal Judge Encl: As above.

Copy forwarded with compliments to:-

1. The 1st Addl. Principal Judge Smt S. S. Sawant, Dindoshi Court. 2. The 2nd Addl. Principal Judge Shri A. T. Wankhede. 3. All the Judicial Officers at Main and Dindoshi Court. 4. Shri Y. B. Game, Secretary, DLSA, Mumbai. Sd/- (Shrinivas B. Agrawal) Principal Judge Copy to:- 1. All the officers & employees in Group-A to C and Court Managers, City Civil and Sessions Court, Gr. Bombay at Main and Dindoshi branch. 2. The Deputy Sheriff, Office of Sheriff Mumbai. 3. The President, Bar Association, City Civil and Sessions Court, Gr. Bombay. 4. The State Government Pleader, City Civil and Sessions Court at Gr. Bombay . 5. The Central Government Pleader, City Civil and Sessions Court at Gr. Bombay. 6. The Public Prosecutor, City Civil and Sessions Court at Gr. Bombay. 7. The Duty Officer and Liason Officer, City Civil and Session Court, Gr. Bombay. 8. Office of PWD, Civil and Electrical, City Civil and Session Court, Gr. Bombay. 9. All the employees in Group-D, City Civil and Sessions Court, Gr. Bombay at Main and Dindoshi branch. 10.Office order file. sd/- (Snehal S. Parab) I/c. Registrar SUBORDINATE COURTS IN THE STATES OF AND GOA AND UNION TERRITORY OF DADRA AND NAGAR HAVELI AND DAMAN AND DIU AND UNION TERRITORY OF DIU, DAMAN AND DADRA NAGAR HAVELI STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE

The Hon’ble the Chief Justice and other Hon’ble Judges of the Hon’ble Administrative Committee, after taking into account the present situation of the COVID-19 pandemic and the views of members of the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa, have been pleased to approve the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), in supersession to the earlier SOP and modifications therein vide Circulars issued time to time, in respect to the functioning of all the Subordinate Courts in the States of Maharashtra and Goa and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (except the Courts in Pune Judicial District) as under :-

JUDICIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE WORK

1. All Courts (except the Courts in Pune Judicial District) shall start regular functioning with effect from 01.12.2020, in two shifts.

2. In each shift the Judicial working hours will be of 2½ hours (i.e. from 11.00 am to 1.30 pm and from 2.00 pm to 4.30 pm) with 100% presence of the judicial officers and the staff in each shift.

3. In the first shift, preferably, the cases which are fixed for evidence and in the second shift, preferably, the cases which are fixed for Judgment, order or hearing of arguments may be taken up.

4. The Judicial Officers may not pass any adverse order owing to the absence of the advocates, parties, witnesses or accused persons.

5. Only those advocates, witnesses, accused persons and party-in-persons whose matters are listed on that day’s board or whose presence is required by the Court for any specific purpose like verification etc. will be permitted to have access in the Court building. No one should enter the Court halls unless their matter is called out and shall leave the Court premises as soon as hearing of their case / work is over.

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6. All Courts in Pune Judicial District shall continue to work as per the old arrangement which was put in place vide SOP dated 03.06.2020 and the modifications therein vide Circulars issued time to time.

SAFETY / PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES

1. All persons entering the Court premises shall compulsorily wear face mask covering the nose and mouth (including at the time of arguments or giving evidence) and shall also observe social / physical distancing norms as set out time to time by the Hon'ble High Court, Central Government and State Government regarding precautions to be taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

2. Persons who may have symptoms of COVID-19 shall not be permitted to enter the Court premises.

3. Bar Rooms, Advocates’ Chambers, Bar Library, Canteens, Photocopying Room / Section, shall remain open subject to adherence of all the safety norms. The Bar Associations shall observe all the safety norms and ensure sanitization of the Bar Rooms etc. It shall also be the responsibility of the concerned Bar Association to see that only those advocates whose matters are on board are coming to the Court and given access to the Bar Rooms.

4. It shall be the responsibility of the concerned Bar Association, in coordination with the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa, to ensure that due precautions are taken to avoid spread of COVID-19.

5. The Principal District and Sessions Judge / Head of the Establishment may take decision at their end about the entry and exit points of the Court premises.

6. One or more officer/s shall be nominated by the PDJ/PJ to oversee the arrangements vis-à-vis adherence of the safety norms, who shall carry out inspection on daily basis.

7. Office bearers of the Bar Council and Bar Associations may issue instructions to all their members to strictly abide by the safety norms.

8. If any advocates or litigants are found violating the above said guidelines, the Principal District Judge / Head of the Establishment shall bring it to the notice of the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa and respective Bar Associations under Page 2 of 3

intimation to High Court by e-mail on [email protected] and may take such action as he/she deems fit and proper.

9. In case the situation owing to pandemic is worsened, the Principal District Judge/ Head of the Establishment may approach the High Court and seek appropriate directions.

10. This SOP shall remain in force until further orders.

Sd/- S.G. Dige Date: 27/11/2020 (Registrar General)

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-:General Instructions, Entry Exit Points and Standard Operating Procedure for Mentioning of Matters:- A)GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS : 1) Advocates, may be accompanied by maximum one colleague, and an registered clerk, if any, with proper proof of identification, will be permitted to enter the Court premises from the designated entry point specified below. No person including the Advocates will be allowed to enter the Court premises with any vehicle. 2)To observe strict norms of social distancing entry into the Court Room for the purpose of attending physical hearings shall stand restricted to:- i) One Advocate per party whose Vakalatnama is on record or who has been duly authorized and whose case is listed for hearing on Board of concerned Court. ii) Senior Counsel / ongoing counsel engaged by any such Advocate. iii)Registered clerk only for limited purpose of delivering heavy and bulky case files of such Advocates at the designated point. iv)Party-in-person, where such party is pursuing the case without any legal assistance. 3) Daily Cause List:- It will be at the discretion of the Presiding Officer to arrange the daily cause list. B)ENTRY AND EXIT POINTS : Category of Persons Entry Point Exit Point

Hon’ble Judges Gate No.1 Gate No.2

Gate No.6 Court Employees, Police Personnel and Litigants (Entry for Litigants after 10.45 a.m.) Gate No.7 Advocates, their Clerks, NCC and Post Office Gate No.9 Staff C)STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE (SOP) FOR MENTIONING OF MATTERS AT MAIN BRANCH:- 1)The Advocates/Parties-in-person may mention their matter only by filling Praecipe through e-mail on the designated e-mail ID of the concerned Court. List of email IDs of each Court room is being published separately.

2)Praecipe for mentioning the matter should be filed setting out therein the urgency in brief, the details of the Court Number, Case number, Names of the Parties and Advocate(s) alongwith email ID and mobile number for correspondence, without any attachment of the matter and by serving the copy of praecipe on the other side. If any attachment is sent, it will not be downloaded and will be ignored.

3)All Praecipes should be sent 48 hours (excluding holidays) in advance before proposed listing of the matter. Praecipes received after stipulated time will not be responded to or will not be placed before the Hon’ble Judge.

4)If the matter is not listed on board as prayed then the Praecipe is deemed to have been refused. (Snehal S. Parab) I/c. Registrar