Lockdown or curfew? Decide in 48 hrs, HC tells Telangana

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The Telangana High Court on Monday directed the state government to take a decision within 48 hours on imposing night curfew or weekend lockdown to check the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The court made it clear that if the government fails to take a decision in 48 hours, it would pass appropriate orders.

Hearing the petitions relating to Covid-19 situation in the state, a bench of Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B. Vijayasen Reddy termed as "disappointing" the state government's handling of the situation.

When Advocate General B.S. Prasad informed the court that the government is monitoring the situation, the court remarked that this is time for action, not monitoring.

The court wanted to know from the government as to why it is not taking any steps to prevent gathering of people for election rallies, marriages and funerals. It also asked the government why no action was taken to prevent crowds at cinema theatres, bars and pubs.

Earlier, the Allahabad High Court ordered a complete lockdown in five cities in Uttar Pradesh till April 26.

The five cities are Lucknow, Prayagraj, Kanpur, Varanasi and Gorakhpur. All these cities have been reporting a high virus load.

Responding to a Public Interest Litigation, the bench, comprising Justice Siddhartha Verma and Justice Ajit Kumar, directed the state government to strictly enforce the curbs.

The court said that all establishments, be it government or private, except financial institutions and financial departments, medical and health services, industrial and scientific establishments, essential services including municipal functions, and public transport, shall remain closed till April 26.

The judiciary will however, function on its own discretion.

All shopping complexes and malls shall remain closed during this period and all grocery shops and other commercial shops, excluding medical shops, with more than three workers shall also remain closed.

All hotels, restaurants and even the small eating points on carts etc shall remain closed.

The court further said that all institutions like educational institutions and other institutions relating to other disciplines and activities, be it government, semi government or private shall remain closed -- their teachers and instructors and other staff included.

No social functions and gatherings including marriage functions shall be permitted till April 26.

However, the Yogi Adityanath government will not implement the lockdown in five cities as ordered by the Allahabad High Court on Monday.

In a statement released after the court verdict, additional chief secretary information, Navneet Sehgal said that the state government has already taken several steps to check the spread of Corona and will continue to take steps needed for this.

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