Top six Supreme Court judges down with swine flu, CJI meets judges, lawyers

Six Supreme Court judges have caught swine flu and a meeting had been convened with the Chief Justice of India to look into remedial measures, a senior judge said in court. Hearing on two constitution bench cases, including a nine judge bench on the Sabrimala religion and rights cases, have been affected due to judges falling ill.

"Six judges are down with H1N1 virus," Justice DY Chandrachud announced in court, further adding that all judges had a meeting with Chief Justice SA Bobde to discuss the circumstances. One judge, Sanjiv Khanna, came to the court wearing a mask, reported news agency IANS.

Justice Chandrachud stated that he has asked Chief Justice SA Bobde to direct the immunization of those working in the Supreme Court.

The CJI also met with the Supreme Court Bar Association president Dushyant Dave. Justice Bobde "is very concerned and said the government was setting up a dispensary in the Supreme Court for inoculation and vaccination," said Mr Dave after the meeting.

Dushyant Dave also told IANS that some foreign delegation members who took part in a judicial conference in the Supreme Court recently were infected by the virus.

The symptoms of H1N1 includes fever, chills and sore throat and is similar to seasonal influanza but has seen higher fatality rates.

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