Yogi govt would have done well to abide by Allahabad HC’s suggestion of lockdown in five cities in UP

Allahabad High Court’s advice to the Uttar Pradesh Government to impose strict restrictions till April 26 in five cities amid the surge in COVID-19 cases has been stayed by the Supreme Court.

Earlier, Telangana High Court too on April 19 issued a two-day ultimatum to the TRS government to decide on a lockdown or a curfew to contain the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Telangana, failing which, it said, it will have to issue orders. The Calcutta High Court has also intervened and suggested to work unitedly for meeting the challenge of Covid-19.

It was encouraging to witness that when the state governments have virtually abdicated their responsibilities, the High Courts were performing a proactive role to protect the lives of crores of Indians.

The opposition to the suggestion of Allahabad High Court by the state government is really intriguing. If the state government had really been serious in meeting the challenges of the pandemic, it would have initiated correct measures and not have allowed the situation to deteriorate to this extent. The crematoriums in the state are over flowing with dead bodies and graveyards are short of spaces.

The Yogi government argued that the HC order would create “immense administrative difficulties”. It is hard to comprehend what could be a tougher administrative task than to protect the lives of the thousands of innocent people who are dying of the disease.

One of the senior most journalist of Lucknow, Tavishi Srivastava, died for want of proper medical treatment.

To be fair, the Allahabad High Court had made a suggestion and did not force its authority. It had suggested to the UP government to impose strict restrictions including closing of malls, shopping complexes and restaurants till April 26 in five cities – Allahabad, Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur Nagar and Gorakhpur – but stopped short of calling it a "complete lockdown". It could well have issued an order.

In this backdrop, it would be wrong to say “lockdown in five cities by a judicial order may not be the right approach”.

The Yogi government claims that it has initiated several steps to contain the spread of coronavirus. If that was the case, why is it not visible on the ground level? The intervention of the High Court implied that nothing is visible on the ground level. Else, there was reason for it to interfere.

The BJP government argued, “The direction given by the High Court is as rigorous as a lockdown”. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath probably forgot the directive of the medical experts that to stop the pandemic from ravaging the human society, the only effective panacea was to break the chain and this could be done only be resorting to a lockdown.

It is worth remembering the exhortation on March 24, 2020 by PM Narendra Modi, when he had said that lockdown was the only remedy. In this regard, the HC’s observation that “these are nowhere close to a complete lockdown” is worth appreciation.

Strangely enough, while the Yogi government says, “Though the intention behind the impugned order passed by the division bench is both laudable and salutary”, it also holds that by passing the direction, the HC had encroached upon the Executive domain.

It ought to be mentioned that on several occasions, the High Courts as well as the Supreme Court, in the greater interest of the people of the country, have acted on their own. But significantly, in this case the Allahabad HC simply made suggestions.

Yogi government’s plea that implementation of High Court’s suggestion would have created panic, fear and law and order situation in the state is beyond understanding.

On the contrary, Yogi Adityanath owes an explanation to the people of the state why his government failed to check the disease from devastating the human society. If Yogi Government had been pro active in combating the disease, this situation would not have arisen.

There is little doubt that the virus has become multiple times more infectious compared to last year. In September last year, as India’s first wave was peaking, scientists in the UK warned of a mutant 50 times more transmissible, implying that the microbe could cause many more deaths if left uncontrolled.

Early this year, evidence began to surface of the more prolific versions of the virus sneaking into India. In January, double mutants, now known as B.1.617, were found in samples collected in Maharashtra, a few weeks before India’s worst-affected state began to report reversals of the gains made last year.

By the end of the year, more than 4,000 people in different parts of Europe had been infected by this mutant. It was expected of a welfare government to work out the modalities for imposing the lockdown. But in this case, the Yogi Government failed.

Only last week, Home Minister Amit Shah belatedly admitted the possible role of mutants in the surge. “Scientists are studying it,” he said.

In fact, the role of the Election Commission too has been deplorable. The political parties in West Bengal have been urging it to club the remaining phases of the election being held in the state to protect people from getting further exposed to the virus. But it is reluctant as it would not help its political bosses.

The Commission is willing to sacrifice hundreds of innocent people to help the interest of its masters. The same thing has been happening in

UP. The poll process for the panchayats could easily be deferred as elections will expose the officials and people to the threat of virus.

The situation in UP has deteriorated to such an extent that relatives are entering into deals for cremation. In Varanasi, the persons manning the burning ghats offer a ‘package’ to the family members for cremating the bodies. The queue is so long that they will have to wait for at least two day at the ghat to cremate the bodies of their relatives. The attitude and approach of Yogi Government reflects an utter lack of sensibility.

(IPA Service)

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