Don’t lower guard, check Covid spread in state: HC

The court also directed that number of guests in marriages and other social functions etc should be controlled

PRAYAGRAJ : Reiterating its earlier directives to check the spread of Covid-19 in UP, the Allahabad high court observed that all people must wear masks and directed police to ensure it.

Hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition relating to Covid-19, a division bench of justice Siddhartha Varma and justice Ajit Kumar further observed, “From the newspaper reports as also from the individuals present in our chamber, we have been informed that life was gradually coming back to normal and people were going back to work etc. It has also been informed that while normalcy was returning, people were forgetting that they had to protect themselves from the deadly Covid-19 virus.”

“It has also been informed that marriages and other social functions were taking place without observing any of the guidelines framed by the state government for Covid-19,” the court added. “Non-wearing of masks should entail penalties as have been enumerated in the Pandemic Act and other relevant laws,” the court directed.

Besides, the court directed that crowding should be stopped

with immediate effect. The court also directed that number of guests in marriages and other social functions etc should be controlled and any violation should be strictly punished.

“Schools and colleges, where small children go should not be asked to start physical classes. If, however, for any reason schools are physically functioning then all guidelines issued by the state government should be followed in letter and spirit”, the court observed.

The court also directed that the institutions, where students above the 10th class have to compulsorily attend classes, must observe social distancing and wearing of masks. The court also instructed that the eateries should see that no food is served in the open i.e. people should take food in packets and have them at their homes.

“Within the restaurants, tables should be laid in such a manner that social distancing is properly observed,” the court said. Regarding its earlier stand, the court said, “With the decrease in the number of cases country-wide and also with the decrease in the number of corona cases in the city of Prayagraj, we had put our guards down. In the recent past, it has been noticed that the population of the state of Uttar Pradesh as also the administration, being guided by the fact that the number of cases were lessening, had reduced the strictness vis-a-vis the wearing of masks”.

The court passed these directives on March 1.