The Supreme Court on Friday termed the worldwide fight against Covid-19 as “world war” and asked states to act vigilantly and harmoniously with the Union government while directing them to increase policing of crowded places to strictly enforce the ‘mask must’ rule as well as other preventive norms.
The apex court emphasised that fundamental right to health includes affordable treatment.
A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R S Reddy and M R Shah said, “It may be a war against Covid-19. Therefore, there shall be a government-public partnership to avoid war against Covid-19. Every state must act vigilantly and work with the Centre harmoniously. It is time to rise to the occasion. Safety and health of citizens must be the primary priority, instead of the other considerations.”
The bench said treatment of Covid patients had become very costly and was going beyond the reach of the common man. “Even if one survives Covid-19, financially and economically he’s finished. Therefore, either more and more provisions are to be made by the government and the local administration, or there shall be a cap on the fees charged by private hospitals, which may be in exercise of the powers under the Disaster Management Act,” the bench ordered.
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Expressing shock and dismay over the casual attitude of people towards the dreaded infectious disease that has killed over one and a half million people world over and 1.45 lakh in India, the bench said police should be deployed in additional numbers in crowded places to watch and enforce ‘mask must’ rule and other preventive standard operating procedures.
“More and more police personnel shall be deployed at places where there’s likelihood of gathering by people, like food courts, eateries, vegetable markets (wholesale or retail), sabzi mandis, bus stations, railway stations, street vendors etc. Curfew on weekends/nights be considered by states where it is not in place,” the bench said.
“In a micro containment zone or in a neighborhood where the amount of cases are on the upper side, to chop the chain, they ought to be sealed and there should be complete lockdown thus far intrinsically areas are concerned. Such containment areas need to be sealed for a few days except essential services. The same is required to interrupt the chain of virus spread. Any decision to impose curfew and/or lockdown must be announced long beforehand in order that people may know and make provisions for his or her livelihood, like ration etc,” it said.
“As far as possible, unless must, no permission shall be granted by the local administration or the collector/DSP for celebration/gathering even during day hours and wherever permissions are granted, the local administration/DSP/collector/police in-charge of the local police station shall ensure the strict compliance of the Covid guidelines/SOPs,” it added.
There should be a mechanism to see the amount of individuals attending such functions/gatherings, like particulars with reference to what percentage of people are getting to attend the celebration/gathering, timings during which the celebration/gathering is to take place etc, it said.
The SC stressed the need for more and more testing and declaration of correct facts about Covid infections to prevent the public from becoming negligent by getting the impression that things are getting better. “Whenever directions are issued under the Disaster Management Act directing corporate hospitals/private hospitals to stay 50% or the other percentage free municipal beds, it must be strictly complied with and there shall be constant vigilance and supervision,” said the bench.
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The bench factored the fatigue of doctors and doctors who are working tirelessly and continuously for the last eight months and asked the Union government to plan a mechanism to give them intermittent rest. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta assured the court that the Centre was already working on a scheme and would finalise it within a few days.
Keeping in mind the upcoming elections in some states that necessitate political rallies, the SC asked states and UTs to issue directions to make sure compliance of EC guidelines on political gatherings and rallies. It asked states to file affidavits within four weeks regarding compliance of its directions.
The bench considered fire questions of safety concerning hospitals and said all states and UTs must appoint a nodal officer for every Covid hospital, who shall be made liable for ensuring compliance of all fire safety measures. It directed fixing of district-level committees for completing fire audits of every Covid hospital a minimum of once a month.
