Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain has extended the closure of all courts across the country till May 5 to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Earlier, the chief justice had decided to run court functions in a limited scope in order to hear and dispose of very urgent cases during the holiday.

But his latest decision to keep all court functions closed came following a full court meeting with the judges of both the Appellate and High Court divisions of the Supreme Court today. The meeting was held through video conference.

The full court meeting decided to amend the Appellate Division rules and the High Court Division rules for holding virtual hearing of very urgent cases through online and video conference.     

The SC judges also decided that the chief justice will request President M Abdul Hamid to issue an ordinance so that the subordinate courts can hold virtual hearing of the urgent cases, SC sources said.

The CJ may constitute a committee for amending the Appellate Division rules and the High Court Division rules with necessary provisions and guidelines.

The judges and lawyers will be given training through the United Nations Development Programme for holding virtual hearing and disposing of the cases through digital services.

The magistrates concerned will hear the urgent cases as usual during the ongoing closure of courts, sources said.