Delhi HC seeks govt stand on quarantine guidelines

‘We expect from the respondents that the provisions contained in the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act shall be effectively implemented,’ the Delhi HC said.

The Delhi High Court Wednesday sought the Delhi government’s response on a plea by a photojournalist questioning its mechanism of implementing COVID-19 quarantine guidelines. The man is a resident of one of the 72 houses that came in contact with a pizza delivery person, who had tested positive on April 14.

In his plea, he said the quarantine notice pasted outside his house on April 15 said he was in quarantine from the midnight of March 24-25, when he first had contact with the delivery person, till April 20 — 30 days as against the stipulated 14 days. The plea further said that on April 17, another quarantine notice was pasted on his door. This time, the period specified was April 14-28.

The petitioner sought directions to the Delhi government to strictly adhere to the said guidelines and follow due procedure, “when issues of liberty are at stake”. Justice C Hari Shankar issued notice to the Delhi government and sought its stand. “The notice said he was under quarantine from March 24 to April 20, which led to his neighbours questioning him as to why he was not observing quarantine since March 24,” said the plea.

“The imposition of a 35-day quarantine period on a person who had a single defined point of contact with the infected individual, and who lives alone, appears to be arbitrary and reflects non-application of mind,” it added. ens