“Beg, Borrow, Steal but Provide Oxygen”

A division bench constituted to take up matters related to Covid-19 has for the last two months been industriously and on a daily basis trying to ensure that citizens are saved at any cost

- Abhinav Verma

HIGH Courts perform an intrinsic role as appellate courts and as courts of first instance in entertaining writ petitions under Article 226. They are often the first point of contact for citizens whose fundamental rights have been violated and are constantly in touch with ground realities in their jurisdictions. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the High Court of Delhi has shown commendable foresight in managing the public health crisis.

Two judges of the High Court, Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Rekha Palli, pulled up the central and the Delhi governments for abdicating their duties to citizens and stood as the true custodian of the rights of the people of Delhi. This division bench was constituted to take up matters related to Covid-19 and for the last two months has been industriously and on a daily basis trying to ensure that citizens are saved at any cost. There have been instances where they have been filled with anguish over the grim reality being faced by Delhi’s citizens.

Following are some instances where this division bench of the Delhi High Court pulled no punches in dealing with the state and central government for not doing their job properly:

MARCH 4: The Delhi High Court asked the centre to explain the rationale behind keeping strict control over the class of persons who can be vaccinated as under the present system, those above 60 years or with comorbidities can receive it.