UP CITIES: SC STAYS ‘CLOSURE’

On an urgent petition filed by the Yogi Adityanath Government of Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court on Tuesday granted an interim stay against an order passed on Monday by the Allahabad High Court imposing a lockdown in five cities of Allahabad, Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur and Gorakhpur till April 26.

A Bench of Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian struck down the High Court's order issued to arrest the rampant spread of Coronavirus, saying there will be no lockdown in the cities as of now.

Posting the matter after two weeks, it sought a report from the UP government on steps taken by it in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic. It also appointed senior advocate P S Narasimha as an Amicus Curiae to assist the court in the matter.

It took up the case forthwith on being told by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the High Court was trying to usurp the government's administrative powers by issuing such a direction.

How can a "virtual lockdown" be imposed through a judicial order, he asked. Though the High Court had exempted those offering essential services and clarified that it was not imposing a lockdown across the state, the Solicitor General said it was a "virtual lockdown" since the order directed the state government to close down all establishments, private or government, in five principal cities of Uttar Pradesh.

The High Court had pulled up the state government for its lack of response, stressing that the medical system could collapse if urgent measures are not taken. On Monday itself, the state government had declared that it won't abide by the High Court order and move the Apex Court since the lockdown orders will conflict with the RamNavmi festivities on Wednesday, which is celebrated in UP on a grand scale. Appearing for the state government, the Solicitor General submitted that the blanket lockdown in five cities by a judicial order will create immense administrative difficulties. He assured that the UP government was doing the needful to contain the Covid-19 situation. Stating that the State was not opposing some of the High Court directions, he said "to lock down five cities by a judicial order may not be the right approach." In its ruling, a division Bench of the Allahabad High Court, comprising Justices Siddhartha Varma and Ajit Kumar, had said the lockdown was absolutely essential to ensure the situation does not go completely out of hand and engulf the entire population of these badly hit districts. "It is a shame that while the Government knew of the magnitude of the second wave it never planned things in advance," the strongly-worded High Court order had said, expressing concern over the abysmal state of affairs of public health care in major cities of UP.