Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday evening refused to follow Allahabad High Court directions to lock down five cities — Lucknow, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Kanpur, Gorakhpur — from Monday night till April 26 — in view of the rapid daily increase in Coronavirus cases.
The state said it would not implement the order — needed, the court said, because the pandemic had "virtually incapacitated our medical infrastructure... specially in cities like Prayagraj, Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur and Gorakhpur" — because it had to protect both lives and livelihoods.
Registering disapproval over the state's handling of the pandemic — UP recorded a record 30,000+ new cases in 24 hours on Monday morning — the court issued a series of orders, including the suspension and closure of all religious activities and establishments, and the closure of all shopping malls.
Hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed pleading for better conditions at quarantine centres and for improved treatment for COVID-19 positive patients, a bench of Justices Siddhartha Varma and Ajit Kumar noted that: "…[P]utting a lockdown to public activities is a matter purely in the nature of policy decision by the concerned government and it was in keeping with this principle that we in our last order dated 13.04.2021, had directed the government to think about restricting public movement to break the chain of Covid infection."
However, the court noted that in its affidavit filed on April 19, "nothing concrete has been placed before us. No concrete plan has yet been chalked out". Although some efforts were been made to convert some private hospitals COVID-19 hospitals, the court said that their facilities were not up to mark.
Taking a dim view of the arrangements made by the government, the court noted: "In any civilised society if public health system is not able to meet the challenges and people die for want of proper medication, it means there has been no proper development.
Health and education go side-by-side. Those in the helm of affairs of governance are to be blamed for the present chaotic health problems and more so when there is a democracy which means a government of the people, by the people and for the people."
However, according to a press release issued by the ACS Sehgal, the Uttar Pradesh government is unlikely to follow the direction of the court.
"The Uttar Pradesh government has taken several steps and is going to take more steps to contain the situation but it is necessary to protect the livelihood of poor people as well. Thus, the cities will not be going under complete lockdown right away. People have been closing down functions in many places of their own volition as it is," Sehgal's release says.
In the strongly-worded order, the bench also observed that conducting the Panchayat polls amidst the health crisis was a decision that invited not just criticism but also punitive action.
The court also ordered all education institutions — across the entire state — to shut down as well.
All offices, whether government or private, were to be closed too, with exceptions for financial institutions, businesses offering medical or health services, industrial and scientific establishments, and those providing essential services such as municipal functions and public transport.
The high court also suspended all social functions and gatherings, including those for marriage functions, for the duration of the lockdown.
Exceptions could be made, it said, for "already fixed marriages" pending permission from the concerned District Magistrate, whose decision was to be based on "prevailing COVID-19 situation" in the area. In such cases, and others as may be permitted, attendance will be limited to 25 people.
All other public movement on the roads will be "restricted", with only those experiencing medical emergencies allowed to travel, the court said.With agency inputs