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Patna High Court directs state, Centre to help stranded students in Kota and elsewhere
The court said it would not be appropriate for it to pass an order on merit of the case without giving the opportunity to the Union of India to file counter affidavit and while a writ of similar nature is pending before the Supreme Court.
The Patna High Court on Tuesday directed the Bihar government and the Centre to make all arrangements for the students stranded in Kota (Rajasthan) and elsewhere in the country.
The court said it would not be appropriate for it to pass an order on merit of the case without giving the opportunity to the Union of India to file counter affidavit and while a writ of similar nature is pending before the Supreme Court.
Hearing a bunch of four public interest litigations (PILs) through video conferencing, the bench of Justice Hemant Kumar Srivastava and Justice Rajendra Kumar Mishra fixed May 5 as the next date for hearing.
On May 4, a writ petition filed by advocate Prashant Bhushan is to come up for another hearing before the apex court and the Centre has to file its response.
Additional Solicitor General SD Sanjay, appearing for the Union of India, sought a week’s time from the court, saying the Centre was in the process of preparing a detailed protocol for interstate movement of the migrants back to their native places in accordance with the SC order. “Once that is ready, it will be filed in the Patna HC,” he said.
Bhushan had filed the PIL urging the apex court for direction to the Centre to allow migrants to return to their home towns and villages after undergoing test for Covid-19 and provide them facilities for safe return.
The apex court has sought Centre’s response on that.
Advocate General Lalit Kishor, appearing for the Bihar government, reiterated state’s stand made in its earlier reply to the registrar general of the Patna HC. The state government had stated that though it was sensitive to the plight of students stranded outside, bringing them back in the midst of lockdown was not desirable, as it would tantamount to violation of the guidelines issued by the ministry of home affairs and subject them as well as others to undue risk.
Four PILs, including one by advocate Ajay Thakur whose representation to the chief justice had evoked response from the government, have been filed in Patna HC in connection with the issue of Bihar migrant labourers and students stranded in different parts of the country.
Thakur said that he apprised the court of the problems being faced by the students stranded in Kota and other parts of the country for over a month and how other states were making arrangements to bring back their students and migrants.
