SC stays Orissa HC order asking state to allow only Covid negative migrants to return

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the order of the Orissa High Court which had asked the state government to ensure that all migrants, who are in the queue to enter Odisha, should be tested negative for COVID-19 before boarding the conveyance.

The high court, in its interim order passed on Thursday, had suggested that the state should ensure that only those tested negative for COVID-19 are allowed to return.

A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan stayed the high court order which was challenged by the Centre.

The Apex Court issued notice to the concerned parties on the appeal which was mentioned by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.

“The high court, by way of the impugned order, has without hearing the Union of India, has passed an interim order mandating the COVID-19 testing of every migrant before boarding the conveyance,” the plea filed in the top court said, adding that the order may have a “cascading effect” on migrants of other states as well.

It claimed that the order, “apart from being unworkable”, failed to notice the standard operating procedure already being followed by the Centre and the state governments.

“It is humbly submitted that impugned order clearly impinges upon the executive domain and creates an unreasonable and impossible to perform pre-condition on part of the governments and the migrant workers who wish to travel back to their native places,” it said, adding, the high court order ignores the nature of pandemic and the “delicate handling of the situation by the executive, after consideration of all possible factors.”