Farmers Movement Archive

Delhi HC says Sonepat-Delhi border curbs a violation of Constitution

The Delhi high court on Friday said Sonepat district magistrate (DM) Anshaj Singh’s orders barring the movement of doctors, nurses, court officials and trucks to and from Delhi were an infringement of constitutional provisions.Saying the order was also in contravention of multiple orders of the Union home secretary, the court issued notices to the Union and Haryana governments to file responses.The DM had passed the order on April 30, arguing that there had been cases of Covid-19 in Sonepat that could be traced to cross-border sources.While the order spoke only about the Sonepat border, the advocate for the petitioner, Nitin Garg, told HT that he had filed the plea for all the five borders, including Aya Nagar, Singhu, Badarpur, Gurugram and Tikri. He said that the order is applicable for all the borders of Delhi and Gurugram. The Haryana government has shut the Faridabad border completely, and not even workers involved in providing essential services are allowed to cross. The state also implemented strict checks at Delhi’s borders with Gurugram, and only those who have been issued passes by the latter’s district administration are permitted to enter the city.Essential service workers, including health care staff in some of the capital’s major Covid hospitals, have complained that these curbs have hindered their ability to work, and has even affected testing. Hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) on Friday, a division bench of the Delhi HC, comprising justices Manmohan and Sanjeev Narula said, “This Court is of the prima facie view that April 30 order by the Sonepat DM constituted an infringement of Articles 19(1)(d) and 301 of the Constitution, especially when the entire national capital and Sonepat are not containment zones.” Article 19 (1)(d) allows every citizen to move freely throughout the territory of India and Article 310 provides for freedom of trade, commerce and intercourse throughout the territory of India.The HC said it was also in agreement with the petitioner’s submission that the action of the Sonepat DM is contrary to the April 15, April 30 and May 1 orders issued by the Union home secretary that detailed the rules of the lockdown.The bench also quoted an April 1 order of a division bench of the Kerala high court which said that even though restrictions may be imposed in times of a national emergency, guidelines issued by the Central government under the Disaster Management Act permit travel for urgent medical treatment. The petitioner, OP Gupta had contended that a number of Delhi residents have to travel to Sonepat for essential work, and vice-versa.He submitted that the Sonepat DM had imposed blanket cross-border transit restrictions between Delhi and Sonepat and granted exemptions to only a few categories of government officials and for movement of goods not destined for Sonepat.The petitioner said that even doctors, nurses and court officials who either lived or worked in Sonepat were being prevented from entering and leaving the city. (WITH INPUTS FROM RICHA BANKA)

Hindustan Times

10-05-2020

Delhi