Chandigarh: Seven held guilty for not wearing masks during 2020 lockdown

Among the seven convicts, Fardeen of Mori Gate, Manimajra, and Amanat Hussan of Sector 52 were fined ₹1,000 each

A local court has convicted seven men who were booked for not wearing face masks during the Covid-19 lockdown in April-May 2020.

Police teams had found the seven men roaming around in Chandigarh without face masks during the Covid lockdown in April-May 2020. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The seven men were held guilty by the court of judicial magistrate first class Puneet Mohinia in three separate cases.

Among them, Fardeen of Mori Gate, Manimajra, and Amanat Hussan of Sector 52 were fined ₹1,000 each.

Police had found the duo roaming near the Modern Housing Complex booth market without face masks on May 25, 2020, and booked them under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code.

The prosecution examined two of the police personnel who were present when the accused were caught without face masks. But the accused denied the prosecution’s evidence, and pleaded that they were innocent and falsely implicated.

The court, however, observed that the prosecution proved the guilt of the accused beyond any shadow of reasonable doubt. It added that testimonies of the official witnesses could not be disbelieved only on the grounds that no independent witness had joined.

Similarly, in two other cases, the court convicted Rampal, Akash and Manoj Sharma of Burail village, who were caught without face masks on April 13, 2020, and Rahul Kumar Bansal and Deepak of Sector 47-D who were booked on May 23, 2020. Here, the convicts were fined ₹200 each.