Cases of ‘intentional infection’ of COVID-19 alarmingly high in Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh cabinet cleared on Wednesday the draft for an ordinance, which prescribes life term for causing death by “intentional COVID-19 affliction”. Intentionally infecting others would invite Rigorous Imprisonment for two to five years. It also covers ‘concealment’ and travelling in public transport and in addition to imprisonment, provides for fines ranging between Rs 50,000 and Rs 100,000.

No contagious disease in the past had necessitated such a draconian law. Cholera, Plague, Small Pox or Flu, or for that matter SARS or MARS, had been singled out as a deliberate “weapon of mass destruction” or being capable of ‘intentional ifection’. As conspiracy theories go, this should rank very high in the list.

But why did the state cabinet think it necessary to prepare such a problematic piece of legislation? One would assume the state has witnessed an alarmingly high number of cases of ‘intentional affliction’ across the state to warrant such urgent action.

But since Governments no longer think it necessary to explain the urgency and justification of a particular law, we might never get to know what prompted the government headed by a monk to give its nod to such draconian law. One would have expected the government to cite cases, numbers and examples to explain why the ordinance had become imperative. But imperial governments do not think it necessary to explain their conduct to the subjects. And the feudal powers that be in UP have decided to just go ahead and ram the ordinance through.

The ordinance is problematic because it is almost impossible to prove in a normal court of law that someone intentionally infected others. The coronavirus has severely affected half the world but the genius of discovering ‘intentional infection’ had to come from Uttar Pradesh. No other country in the world appears to have stumbled upon cases of wilful infection.

The imagination boggles at the thought of a sneezing, coughing man with signs of flu accosting someone in his shop, in the train or bus or barging into a house to deliberately infect someone with the virus.

But we know why the ordinance has been prepared. After maligning the minority community for spreading the virus, profiling COVID-19 patients on the basis of religion, after encouraging and not taking any action against hospitals refusing treatment and admission to Muslims and after allowing the false and malicious campaign that Muslim vendors spit on vegetables before selling them, presumably to non-Muslims, it should be clear as daylight what the ordinance seeks to achieve.

As usual, no public servant acting in good faith (they always act in good faith) under this ordinance will be liable for any compensation, penal action or accountability for harassing citizens.

It is also problematic because there cannot be any objective set of evidence that the prosecution can produce in court against the accused. It will be the complainant or the prosecution’s word against the accused’s. This is bad in law.

It is quite likely, therefore, that the Governor, Anandiben Patel, and her advisors in the Raj Bhavan and the Home Ministry in Delhi will decide against giving assent, without which the ordinance cannot become law and be enforced.

But stranger things have happened. What if the Governor does give her assent to this bizarre ordinance?

We will then know that we now live in the fabled ‘Andher Nagri, Chaupat Raja’ about which we read in our childhood and laughed at. The story of an eccentric ruler with a weird sense of justice was meant as a warning. Such a land, the story held, was dangerous.

Well, don’t we know?