Take action against violators to prevent explosion of COVID cases, HC tells govt

CHENNAI: Cautioning that violating pandemic control measures like wearing of masks and maintaining social distancing could lead to infection rate going up, the Madras High Court directed the government to take action against those who violate the mandatory norms. The court also asked the government ensure that there was no discrepancy between the tally from each district and the total number of cases that it furnished.

A division bench comprising Justice MM Sundresh and Justice R Hemalatha issued the directions on a plea which sought to direct the State government to release on a daily basis a standardised pattern of district-wise numbers, along with reconcilable State level data starting from March 9 till the end of the pandemic.

The plea moved by DMK legislator PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan said the data should be inclusive of the number of COVID-19 cases, death statistics, the rehabilitated patients (in private and government hospitals), data on hospital beds and other facilities available at private and government hospitals in a simple yet detailed layout through the respective district Collectors for easy access by the citizens.

Pointing out that there was a discrepancy between the total number of positive cases given by the State government and the individual data furnished by each district, the bench led by Justice Sundresh directed the government to ensure that these two numbers were the same. It also asked the government to adopt the statistics furnished by the Greater Chennai Corporation.

Also noting that the website that provided updates on the availability of hospital beds at private has stopped working, the bench directed the government ensure that the website was active within two weeks. Following the submissions made by petitioner’s counsel V Raghavachari on overcrowding at markets and non-supervision and non-implementation of social distancing rules, the bench directed the government to depute officials to see to it that appropriate action was taken against those who fail to comply with the norms on wearing masks and maintaining social distancing while visiting crowded places like marriage halls, funerals, markets, etc.

“If it is found that anyone is not wearing masks, that too in a group, then the GO passed has to be pressed into service. If the present situation continues, then there is a strong possibility of increase in positive cases, as per the report of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR),” the bench added, and sought an action taken report from the government on or before October 16.

The bench also directed the government to consider the feasibility of distribution of masks in places where there was a likelihood of social gathering, such as markets, marriage halls and funerals.