Tripura high court on Monday(28 September) considering an affidavit submitted by the state government on their special drive for violation of the directives for wearing masks in public, remarked “This cannot be the sole responsibility of the administration. The members of the public also must be conscious and responsible”
The divisional bench of chief justice Akil Kureshi and Justice S. Talapatra reviewed the affidavit and other accompanying documents with the assistance of learned advocate General Mr. Somik Deb as amicus curiae. The court stated that figures of violations and penalties for violation of not wearing a mask were quite high in the drive which was carried out by the government. The court observed that it may not possible for the administration to maintain the same level of intensity while adding to it that it was not the sole responsibility of the administration either. The court added that the public must also be responsible and conscious and said “It is unfortunate that a measure, such as wearing of the mask which is simple and which is meant for the safety of the person himself or herself, needs to be enforced through coercive measures. Unlike the safety measures, such as wearing a seat belt in a car or helmet on a two-wheeler, the person breaching the rule of wearing a mask in public not only exposes himself or herself but also other members of the society by being careless” and further requested public to wear masks in public areas.
The court in addition to the affidavit reviewed data of testing by the Government, the court observed that numbers of testing were reduced since Government had decided to stop testing every person landing at the airport, railway station as well as in the international borders, which was previously done. The court advised the government to divert these spared tests to other members of the public for better assessment and publish the number of tests per 24 hours if not already done.
The court then asked for the submission of a report on steps taken to initiate the recommendations of the central expert team to improve the treatment of Coronavirus. The team stayed for a week and inspected the state government’s coronavirus treatment centers and had submitted a report of recommendations to improve the treatment.
The court mentioned the issue of increased death rate since many patients were admitted late in the hospitals and remarked that it could be due to the public perception about the facilities at the COVID hospitals. The court while ordering another report of the hospitals said “We would request the Government to form a team of senior doctor/s and administrator who would periodically visit the COVID hospital, inspect the treatment and the facilities available at the centre and make recommendations and suggestions to the Government. If this is already done, the same shall be stated in the affidavit. Reports and suggestions of the team shall be shared with the Court”
The learned counsel mr.deb submitted an initial report of quality of PPE kits to which the court said “If there was any such inquiry leading up to the reports as suggested, the affidavit shall disclose the details thereof.” And listed the matter on 05/10/2020 for the next hearing.
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