Delhi HC resumes work after bomb threat e-mail turns out hoax

New Delhi, Sep 12 (PTI) The Delhi High Court witnessed unprecedented scenes on Friday when some judges started rising at around 11.35 am following a bomb threat e-mail, which later turned out to be a hoax.

The buzz and commotion throughout the court corridors began after the high court administration received an e-mail threatening an attack and triggered a thorough search operation by the police, fire officials, bomb disposal and dog squads.

While some of the judges rose from benches, others continued hearing cases till 12 noon.

The litigants and lawyers in the high court were initially unaware of the reason behind the judges rising but later learnt about the bomb threat e-mail.

The information spread quickly, interrupting court proceedings.

Hearings in several matters, including the plaint filed by actress Karisma Kapoor's children seeking challenging the purported will of their late father Sunjay Kapur, were already over by the time the news of the bomb threat spread.

Later, dates given by the court staff in the remaining cases.

Advocate Kamlesh Mishra, who was present in a courtroom for his FIR quashing case, said during the proceedings the judges were informed about the bomb threat and everyone was asked to evacuate.

"A panic situation was created initially since we were not aware as to what was happening. Now the sanitisation process is in process and court proceedings are likely to resume once everything remains fine," he added.

The e-mail, received by the registrar general at around 8.39 am, warned of explosions in judges' chambers and courtrooms around mid-day.

The information prompted the court staff to alert the judges while proceedings were underway.

Several judges left their respective courtrooms at around 11.35 am while others continued till noon before rising.

However, the court proceedings resumed at 2:30 PM as per normal schedule after the police declared it a hoax.

According to the sources, the e-mail claimed "today's blast in the Delhi High Court will clear the doubts of previous bluffs" and warned of three bombs placed inside judges' rooms and the court complex, asking everyone to vacate by 2 pm. PTI SKV AMK AMK