No illegal detention of people from COVID-19 hotspots, HC told
Justice A S Kilor of the HC's Nagpur bench was hearinga petition filed by local resident Mohammad Nishat, allegingthe city civic authorities illegally detained 1,408 peoplefrom Satranjipura and Mominpura areas on the ground they werehigh-risk contacts of those who tested positive for COVID-19.
According to the petitioners advocate, TusharMandlekar, the authorities randomly picked up 1,408 people andthus, violated the prescribed protocols and guidelines issuedby the Union government and the Indian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR).
Mandlekar argued that only persons found to becoronavirus positive or their high-risk contacts can bedetained and quarantined for 14 days.
The 1,408 people detained by authorities do not fallunder these categories and hence, detaining them amounts toinfringement of their fundamental rights, he said.
The Nagpur civic body in its affidavit filed onTuesday said it has followed all the guidelines issued by theIndian Council of Medical Research while quarantining peoplefrom Satranjipura and Mominpura areas of Nagpur city.
The civic body after following the guidelines hadcategorized these persons as being high-risk contacts and onlyafter such identification, they were sent to quarantinefacilities.
"All the persons detained from these areas are high-risk contacts and as such have been rightly sent to quarantinefacilities, the affidavit said.
Many of the persons who have been quarantined havetested positive when tests were conducted, the corporationsaid.
Nagpur district collector Ravindra Thakare in hisaffidavit said all steps taken by the authorities are with thesingular aim of reducing the spread of COVID-19 and forsafeguarding the lives of citizens.
The cases of COVID-19 are increasing day by day inNagpur district and the position is critical and dynamic innature, the Collector said in his affidavit.
He added that the Nagpur corporation is making allnecessary arrangements at quarantine facilities, includingfood and medicines.
The petition had also claimed that these people havebeen sent to quarantine facilities set up in the MLA Hosteland Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT),which are located in crowded areas.
As per guidelines issued by ICMR and the Uniongovernment, a quarantine facility should preferably be on theoutskirts of a city, Mandlekar argued.
To this, the corporation in its affidavit said thatquarantine facilities are not located in crowded areas and aresecured by police.
"The two quarantine facilities where the 1408 personsare presently kept is as per the guidelines issued by ICMR andunion government which says the facility should be wellprotected and secure, should have ample parking space andshould have easy access for delivery of food, medicines and soon, the affidavit said.