Maha govt orders on allowing only fully vaccinated people on locals illegal: HC

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday said the state governmentrsquos orders of 2021 permitting only those fully vaccinated to travel on local trains were ldquoillegalrdquo and brazenly affected the fundamental rights of citizens Reacting to it Senior Citizen Passenger Committee member Mansoor Umer Darvesh told midday that action should be taken against the former chief secretary for misusing his power and harassing the general publicThe division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M S Karnik said the three orders signed by the then chief secretary Sitaram Kunte were in clear diversion from the prescribed procedure under the Disaster Management Rules The HC said ldquoThe orders passed by the former chief secretary were in clear diversion of the prescribed procedure Due to the illegal orders the fundamental rights of citizens were brazenly affectedrdquoThe state executive committee will soon consider lifting the restriction that keeps people without or with just one dose of vaccine from travelling by local trains File picDarvesh a 62yearold from Jogeshwari had sparked a debate in August 2021 by stating in a letter to the chief ministerrsquos office and the railway bosses that vaccination was a choice while public transport was right midday had reported on thisldquoYou cannot deny public transport to those who are not vaccinated Action should be taken against former Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte for misusing his power and harassing the common man The facilities given to an officer after retirement should not be given to him in a bid to deter other officersrdquo an elated Darvesh told middayYohan Tengra one of the petitioners who had claimed that the doubledose mandate was discriminatory said the state government has been asked to withdraw their illegal orders and it was a great victory for all the activists at the high courtShailesh Jaiswal a resident of Dadar said ldquoDue to some medical reasons my uncle was unable to take the vaccine and he was not allowed to take the cheapest mode of public transport in the citymdashthe local trainmdashdue to this rulerdquoldquoThere canrsquot be similar restrictions in future Courts must declare any such restriction as unconstitutional The unvaxxed have gone through enough miseryrdquo said Ashish M another citizenOn Tuesday the governmentrsquos counsel Anil Anturkar informed the court that the three orders in questionmdashissued on July 15 August 10 and August 11 2021mdashstand withdrawn ldquoIn the spirit of the observations made by the high court the three orders are withdrawn The state executive committee would be holding a meeting on February 25 following which fresh directives would be issuedrdquo Anturkar saidHe added ldquoWe may withdraw the prohibition on use of local trains by unvaccinated people or those who have taken one dose or may impose it based on the present COVID19 situation At this stage I cannot say anything furtherrdquoThe bench then pointed out that the number of people who tested positive in Mumbai on Monday was at the lowest in 20 months ldquoWe hope and trust that the state executive committee takes an appropriate decision on February 25 keeping in mind the declining trend of COVID19 casesrdquo the HC said and posted the matter for further hearing on February 28The HC bench noted that Kuntersquos orders breached the state disaster management rules and were issued in his individual capacity as chairperson of the state executive committee without there being any deliberation with the other membersldquoThe chairperson has the power to pass such orders only in emergency situations But we opine that none of the three orders rendered an emergent situation warranting the former chief secretary to pass such ordersrdquo the high court saidThe bench had on Monday asked the government if it was willing to withdraw the three circulars as they were not passed following proper procedureThe court was hearing a bunch of public interest litigations challenging the prohibition on use of local trains in the city by unvaccinated people saying that such a prohibition was illegal arbitrary and in breach of the citizensrsquo fundamental right to move freely across the country as guaranteed by Article 19 1 d of the ConstitutionNilesh Ojha counsel for one of the petitioners had previously argued that the state failed to apply its mind while coming up with the SOPs and that it discriminated between the vaccinated and unvaccinated people though neither the Centre nor the Maharashtra government had made vaccination mandatoryWith input from agenciesFeb 25Day when the state executive committee is set to meetFeb 28Day when the next hearing is scheduled