Govt clarifies to Apex Court: Usage of Disinfectant Tunnels harmful for Human Health

On Monday, the Central Government informed the Supreme Court that using disinfectant tunnels is not recommended, and it is clinically and psychologically harmful for humans.

The apex court bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan questioned solicitor general Tushar Mehta appearing for Centre that why the disinfectant tunnels were not already banned if its usage is not recommended. “

"If it is bad then why is Centre not banning it?" asked justice Bhushan.

Mehta assured the bench, also comprising Justice R. Subhash Reddy and Justice M.R. Shah, that appropriate guidelines will be issued at the earliest and hopefully by Tuesday. He also sought a weeks’ time to submit affidavit with relevant details to the court.

The three-judge bench granted the request and listed the case for further consideration after two weeks.

The arguments were made in the Public Interest Litigation filed by Gursimran Singh Narula, a final-year law student. He has sought directions for complete ban on usage, productions, advertisement and installation of the sanitization tunnels. These tunnels involve spraying of disinfectants on people who pass through it.

The plea argued that the World Health Organization (WHO) and other worldwide scientific authorities have warned about the dangerous aftereffects and ineffectiveness of using the disinfectant tunnels. It has also been submitted that the tunnel exposes the humans passing through it to ultra-violet rays resulting into “non-consensual medical experimentation" on humans.

Narula apprised the court through the plea that the disinfectant spraying on individuals or group may lead to irritation of eyes and skin and it can also cause psychological and gastrointestinal problems. He added that this “faulty notion" of sanitizations may prevent people from washing hands and social distancing since they believe they have been sanitized adequately.

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