COURTESY HT NOV 20

Wedding cap should have been brought in earlier: HC

Richa Banka

richa.banka@htlive.com

New Delhi : The Delhi High Court on Thursday said the Delhi government should have capped the number of people allowed to attend weddings and other related functions sooner while observing that the capital was reeling under the massive surge in cases of the coronavirus disease in the last fortnight.

A bench of justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad also said that both the Delhi government and the Centre must put their heads together to tackle the situation.

“Why did you wait for a court’s direction to reduce the number of people? The city is reeling and you allowed the transport in full capacity. Tell us the rational object behind this decision. Why didn’t you wake up even after the situation worsened since November 1?” the bench said.

The court remarked that the Delhi government had anticipated the situation and still chose to open all the activities. “You had very well anticipated the situation because you had passed the September 12 order (reserving 80% ICU beds in the city). The cold wave along with the pollution during the winter months is a cocktail of death, especially those who have breathing issues,” the court said.

Referring to the rising toll due to Covid-19 --- 131 people died of the infection on Wednesday, the highest so far in a single day --- the high court bench asked why was the Delhi government waiting for the Centre and L-G for directions before taking measures to arrest the spike in cases.

“You were shaken out of slumber. Do you know about the number of lives that has been lost in the last 18 days? Yesterday there were 131 deaths in a single day and the government is claiming that you were alive to the situation. The ground is full of dead bodies. Why were you have to look at the Centre and the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) for directions,” the bench said.

The court was hearing a plea by advocate Rakesh Malhotra seeking directions to the Delhi government to ramp up the number of tests in the city.

On Thursday, senior advocate Sandeep Sethi, appearing for the Delhi government, told the court that they have reduced the number of wedding attendees. He said that people are being fined for not wearing masks and not maintaining social distancing norms. He also said the decision to shut down a few markets is pending with the Centre.

During the day, the Delhi government said the fine for not wearing mask in public places will be increased from ₹500 to ₹2,000.

The L-G has approved the order. The government also informed the court that they have collected ₹11.8 crore between September 7 to November 16 in fines from people who were found violating the norms.

However, the court said that even fining people is not acting as a deterrent and the number of enforcement teams and vehicles are not proving enough to cover the entire population.

Justice Kohli also asked the Delhi government to indicate the steps they are taking to ensure that there are adequate facilities for victims of Covid-19 at the ghats and crematoriums.

While noting that only about 50% RT-PCR tests have been conducted as against over 200,000 rapid antigen tests between November 9 and 17, the court directed the government that more RT-PCR tests should be conducted for better results.

The court noted in its order that the Delhi government is not conducting the fifth sero-survelliance stating that the third wave of Covid-19 is still in progress, even though the government told the press that the third wave has already peaked in the city.

Satyakam told the court that the government would be adding 663 ICU beds (both ventilator and non-ventilator) to the current 1,167 ICU beds in government hospitals. The court directed that the ICU beds should be made functional within the next week.

Reacting to court’s observations, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the government will strictly adhere to all orders and suggestions of the high court.

The matter will be now heard on November 26.