Litigants to visit Patiala courts with clean hands

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 2

Litigants visiting Patiala courts will come with “clean hands” literally. Following the initiative by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, a foot-operated hand washing system has been installed at the main gate of the court complex in view of the Covid outbreak.

Patiala jail inmates have also been assigned the task of preparing high-quality reusable protective face masks for free distribution to the visitors. Initial estimates suggest more than 300 masks will be prepared by the inmates daily.

The project was launched by Justice Rajan Gupta this afternoon through video-conferencing with the authorities concerned in Patiala. Patiala District and Sessions Judge Rajinder Aggarwal also attended the event.

Justice Gupta, who is the administrative Judge of the Patiala sessions division and chairman of the jails committee, is believed to have conceptualised the idea and expressed it in a tangible form.

Judge Aggarwal said non-government organisation Janhit Samiti had already undertaken the responsibility of supplying cloth and other material for preparing double-layered face masks.

He said the foot-operated hand washing system with soap had been installed in the court complex under Justice Gupta’s instructions along with a similar mechanism for providing potable water to the litigants.

A senior High Court functionary said going by the current trend, masks and other precautionary measures were likely to remain in place till the year-end and would provide essential safeguard to the visitors coming to the court complexes either without the protective gear or with inadequate safety measures.

“Once the courts move out of the restrictive functioning mode, people from all segments will start flooding the complexes and a face mask is the most basic and essential safeguard against Covid-19. Our apprehension is that not all coming to the courts will be careful enough to prevent the spread of the virus. Under such circumstances, free face masks will come handy,” the officer said.

The High Court has already made it clear that the restrictions imposed on the functioning of the subordinate courts in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh in view of the Covid outbreak will continue till the curfew and the lockdown is in force.

It has been ordered that all district and sub-divisional courts in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh will function “restrictively” from May 1 “till the lockdown/ curfew is in force in the respective area”.

“We will use the existing infrastructure and available manpower. The inmates, too, will carry out a more productive task,” the officer added.