Distribute seized essential protective material as per orders of competent authority: HC to state

The two-member division bench of the HC, comprising chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice SS Shinde, heard the PIL through video-conferencing on Tuesday.

The Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday disposed of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Mohan Joshi, the general secretary of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), regarding the distribution of seized personal protective equipment (PPE) items such as face masks and hand sanitisers among the frontline workers of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, who are battling the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak.

Health care workers wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to check patients at Dharavi during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, May 14, 2020. (Satish Bate/HT Photo)

The plea was filed after the Maharashtra government told the court that a competent authority had invoked the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and had passed interim orders for the release of seized PPE units.

However, the government pleaded its inability, as the law stipulates that these items could not be distributed till legal action is taken against the black marketers and hoarders.

The two-member division bench of the HC, comprising chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice SS Shinde, heard the PIL through video-conferencing on Tuesday.

Advocate Vishal Kanade, who represented Joshi, told the court that rampant black marketing and hoarding cases have been reported regarding these PPE items, which are key resources to battle the pandemic. Police have raided and seized the PPE stockpiles on the basis of tip-offs and these items should be distributed among corona warriors, he argued.

Poornima Kantharia, who represented the state government, submitted an affidavit to the court. She stated that the authorities had invoked the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and issued an interim order but are bound by the legal obligations that prohibit the distribution of these seized items till criminal proceedings are carried out against the black marketers and hoarders.