HC dismisses plea challenging lifting of lockdown restrictions

The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a plea challenging the May 30 order of the Centre to unlock the country in a phased manner, while stating that the decision

The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a plea challenging the May 30 order of the Centre to unlock the country in a phased manner, while stating that the decision of lifting the lockdown had not been taken in haste and would ensure a proper balance between containing the spread of Covid-19 pandemic and making certain that people are not forced to starve.

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A bench of justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad also imposed a fine of ₹20,000 on a fifth-year law student Arjun Aggarwal, who filed the plea, and said that it was “completely misconceived” and filed only to “gain publicity”. The bench, however, said that the government is expected to remain cognizant of the situation and evaluate it closely.

“If it is found that the rate of infection is going up, they can always review their decision and impose curbs, depending upon the situation,” the bench said in a 23-page judgment.

The court said that a series of orders have been passed, starting from March 2020, to tackle the situation and decisions have been taken by the government to ensure minimum hardship to the people. Several economic packages have been announced to regenerate the economy.

“This court can also take judicial notice of the fact that the world over, the trend is now to reduce restrictions imposed due to lockdown, and to return to normal life. In order to ensure a proper balance between containing the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and making certain that people are not forced to starve, the government has issued the impugned order. The reopening has been directed in a phased manner and is not a decision that appears to have been taken in haste,” the court said.

The petitioner, through his counsel, had contended that lifting the lockdown would deprive the citizens of their basic fundamental rights such as life, and ignore the health of its citizens by exposing them to the threat of Covid-19. The plea also stated that lockdown restrictions have been lifted only considering the economic situation while endangering its citizens to the extent of succumbing to a contagious disease in the absence of any proven medical cure.

The court, while dismissing the plea, also said that the lockdown has resulted in the loss of jobs for several lakhs of people, and scores of people were forced to walk considerable distance and stand in long queues at food distribution centres just to have two meals a day. It also said that production had come to a “grinding halt” and people had become unemployed.

“The economic situation of the country has taken a terrible hit due to the lockdown. In fact, many analysts have opined that the lockdown has caused more human suffering than Covid-19 itself. Economists have forecast that the Indian economy will shrink as a result of the steps taken to contain the coronavirus disease pandemic. Indian economy virtually came to a standstill during the nationwide lockdown,” the court said.

Meanwhile, a bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan refused to entertain two pleas which had sought strict imposition of lockdown in the national capital. The court said that said it was not going to issue any notice following which the petitioners withdrew their pleas.