The Order had come in a Writ Petition moved by Advocate Rakesh Malhotra. The Petition originally sought to ramp up the testing facilities in Delhi. But the High Court of Delhi enlarged the scope of hearing after an alarming increase of COVID-19 infection in Delhi.
Facts of the Case
In the present Petition, the focus of the Court was on ramping up the testing in Delhi through RTPCR, CBNAAT, TruNat, besides RAT. But, in the past two weeks, the number of COVID cases had risen alarmingly. Delhi had been reporting far more cases than States like Maharashtra and Kerala. And it had been noticed that in such a critical situation, the Delhi Government had continued to relax the norms relating to the movement of the public.
Submissions before Court
Mr.Rakesh Malhotra, the Petitioner himself had joined the proceedings in the hospitalized state. The Petitioner had been infected with COVID and was on oxygen support. The Petitioner stated that despite being a resident of West Delhi, he couldn’t manage to get admission in any of the neighbouring private hospital/nursing homes. Due to which he had to move to a nursing home in Dwarka.
Additional Standing Counsel Mr.Satyakam appeared for the Delhi Government. He claimed that the urgent measures to control COVID-19 infection in Delhi were already in process.
Court’s Observation:
The Court appreciated the effort made by the Petitioner to join the virtual hearing even in critical condition. After which the Court noted that The Petitioner was just one among several thousands of persons in Delhi suffering from the infection, and struggling to find a bed in hospitals/nursing homes. The Court also took on record the latest Sero-Surveillance Report which suggested that 1 out of 4 persons had already been infected with COVID-19.
The Court further observed that despite the worsening situation in Delhi, both due to COVID and Air pollution, the Government was continuously relaxing norms.
Court’s Order
The Division Bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad directed the Delhi Government to file a Status Report by November 18. The said report must furnish details of the steps taken by it in the past two weeks to control COVID-19 and how it proposes to deal with the other issues flagged by it.
The matter would be next heard on November 19.
For the original order of the case, Click here: Rakesh Malhotra v. GNCTD
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