A full bench of the Kerala High Court has extended the subsistence of all the interim orders passed by it and the courts subordinate to it till June 30, 2020, in view of the coronavirus lockdown.
The order was passed by a bench of Chief Justice S Mkumar, Justice CT Ravikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly on Monday, who also detailed its applicability on bail matters, anticipatory bail, etc.
The court has intimated that all interim order granted in respect of orders passed by courts/ tribunals upon which High Court exercises supervisory jurisdiction, which are due to expire during the lockdown are extended till June 30, 2020.
However, any aggrieved party is at liberty to move for vacating such orders before the appropriate courts/tribunals, as the case may be, the court said.
Further, with regard to recovery proceedings under state laws, the State government, LSG institutions, Government of India and public sector undertakings owned and controlled by the State or Central governments have been directed to not take coercive action against any individual until June 30, 2020.
However, liberty has been given to the authorities to approach the High Court seeking necessary permission for initiating/proceeding with recovery proceedings.
In respect of anticipatory bail, arrest and bail, it is iterated that an accused should not be arrested unless the same is inevitable. However, in respect of cases relating to recovery of material objects used in the commission of offences and such cases, the State is at liberty to take appropriate decisions.
The court has also extended the period for filing of bail applications by the persons who had been released on interim bail, by seven days.
"Considering the rush in filing the bail applications of those persons released on interim bail, we deem it fit to extend the period to seven days and the prisoners to appear and file bail applications before the concerned jurisdictional courts within seven days from the end of the lockdown period," the court said in its order.
( With inputs from ANI )