MADURAI:  A judge from the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, three of his family members and his personal security officer tested positive for COVID-19, said sources here on Saturday, a day after three Madras High Court judges tested positive.

The rest of the judges from the Madurai High Court Bench tested negative, and the staff members who worked in the COVID-19-positive judge's court were awaiting results.

After the three judges tested positive for the infection on Friday, the functioning of the Madras High Court and the Madurai Bench, which was gradually shifting to open court hearing from June 1, were again restricted to video-conference.

A Madras High Court notification on Friday stated that till June 30, only one Division Bench and three single judges would be hearing the cases in the High Court Bench through video-conference, assisted by minimal support staff, from their respective residences, and only urgent cases would be taken up.
Physical hearing in district courts

While the courts in the district headquarters and taluks of nine districts have resumed physical hearing, the Madras High Court issued another notification permitting physical hearing in district headquarter courts and taluk courts in nine more districts, including Virudhunagar, Kanniyakumari and Dindigul, and only taluk courts in Tirupur district.

The Principal District Judges of the ten districts have been advised to ensure sanitization and social distancing on the court premises.