No night curfew in city, Delhi govt informs high court

The Delhi government on Thursday informed the Delhi high court that it would not impose a night curfew in the capital city -- as a whole or in parts -- and said it arrived at the decision after surveying the present Covid-19 situation.

The Delhi government on Thursday informed the Delhi high court that it would not impose a night curfew in the capital city -- as a whole or in parts -- and said it arrived at the decision after surveying the present Covid-19 situation. The court, on its part, asked the government to ramp up testing and contact tracing of Covid-19 patients.

People flock a weekly market in Pandav Nagar, while flouting Covid-19 norms. The government had last month informed the Delhi high court that it is “actively considering” a night curfew or a weekend lockdown as part of its effort to slow the third wave of the pandemic (Raj K Raj/HT archive)

On the last date of hearing (November 26), the court had asked the government to review whether it wanted to impose a night curfew. The Delhi government counsel had replied that his government is actively considering such a measure.

On Thursday, additional solicitor general (ASG) Sandeep Sethi and additional standing counsel of the Delhi government advocate Satyakam told a bench of justice Hima Kohli and justice Subramonium Prasad that after assessing the situation, the government said such a curfew was not called for.

“The Delhi government has taken a considered view, after assessing the situation of Delhi, not to impose night curfew in Delhi or some parts of Delhi as of now,” the government said in a status report. A status quo will be maintained till December 31 or further with regard to restricted/permitted activities, the government said.

The court was hearing a plea by advocate Rakesh Malhotra seeking an increase in the Covid-19 testing and speedier results.

In response to another query, posed by the court on November 26, the government said the money collected as fines for not maintaining social distancing or not wearing masks will be deposited with the treasury, and that will not be directly used for any specific expenditure (Covid related) by the local administration or the government.

“All Covid-19 related expenditures are being met by departments concerned out of the allocated funds,” the status report said.

The government on Thursday said it has collected ₹17.93 crore in fines (till November 30) with the Delhi Police’s collection reaching ₹27 crores (till November 30).

The court was told that the government, on November 28, had restricted 50% of the staff (below grade 1) for non-essential services, at government departments, corporations, public sector undertakings and local bodies from being physically present in offices. .

“Private establishments have also been advised to stagger the office timings and to reduce the number of employees attending office,” the counsel said.

The court sought to know whether the order was actually being implemented. “It is unclear from the status report as to how much impact this order would actually have on a real time basis as it does not cover central government employees and is only recommendatory in nature qua private establishments,” it said.

The bench said testing and tracing are the only ways to contain the virus while observing that the number has come down of late. “So please focus on those aspects,” it added.

The court also said the government has to ensure that people who are in home isolation stay indoors. It also said that the turnaround time for test reports is still 48 hours and patients are not receiving messages on their phones even after the court’s directions.

The court asked the government to file a status report with updated information and posted the next hearing to December 14.

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