Khemka lauds Delhi HC order on Sonepat magistrate’s actions

District magistrate Anshaj Singh had on April 30 restricted movement on grounds that most Covid-19 cases in Sonepat have a Delhi connection following which a public interest litigation was moved.

Senior Haryana IAS, Ashok Khemka on Sunday said the Delhi high court order, terming the Sonepat district magistrate’s actions of obstructing the movement of doctors, nurses, court officials and trucks from Delhi to Sonepat an infringement of the constitutional provisions, was welcome.

Ashok Khemka, senior IAS officer

In a tweet, the officer said barriers erected in public places and stopping economic activities may be excessive. Keep Antyodaya (uplift of the weakest sections) in mind. The job reduce to transmission of coronavirus was a challenging one. Physical distance, personal hygiene, face protection helps, he tweeted in response to the Hindustan Times story on the HC order.

DM Anshaj Singh had on April 30 restricted movement on grounds that most Covid-19 cases in Sonepat have a Delhi connection.

Following this, a public interest litigation (PIL) was moved before the court stating that as Sonepat is not only contiguous to Delhi but also a part of the national capital region, a number of Delhi residents have to travel to Sonepat for essential work and vice versa.

Hearing PIL, a division bench of the Delhi HC comprising Justice Manmohan and Justice Sanjeev Narula said: “This court is of the prima facie view that April 30 order issued by the Sonepat DM constituted an infringement of Articles 19(1)(d) and 301 of the Constitution, especially when the entire national capital and Sonepat are not containment zones.”

Article 19 (1) (d) allows every citizen to move freely throughout the territory of India and Article 310 provides for freedom of trade, commerce and intercourse throughout the territory of India.

Issuing notice to the Union and Haryana governments to file responses, the HC has listed the case for May 12.