Uttarakhand High Court
Unknown vs Union Of India And Others on 15 May, 2020
Author: Sudhanshu Dhulia
Bench: Sudhanshu Dhulia, Ravindra Maithani
IN THE HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND AT NAINITAL
Writ Petition (PIL) No. 58 of 2020
Sachdanand Dabral
....Petitioner
Versus
Union of India and others ....Respondents
Present:- Mr. Siddhartha Sah and Mr. Shiv Bhatt, Advocates for the
petitioner.
Mr. S.N. Babulkar, learned Advocate General, Mr. H.M.
Raturi, Deputy Advocate General, Mr. S.S. Chauhan and
Mr. Paresh Tripathi, learned Chief Standing Counsel assisted
by Mr. Suyash Pant and Mr. Anil Bisht, Brief Holder for the
State.
Mr. Rakesh Thapliyal, learned Assistant Solicitor General of
India assisted by Mr. V.K. Kaparwan, Advocates.
Hon'ble Sudhanshu Dhulia, J.
Hon'ble Ravindra Maithani, J.
Presently more than two lakh persons are already registered with the State of Uttarakhand. These are the persons who have expressed their desire and need to return to Uttarakhand. By and large, these are persons who are though permanent residents of Uttarakhand but are working in different States of the country. Under these strange and difficult times of COVID-19 pandemic, they want to return to their home State. They cannot be stopped from entering in the State of Uttarakhand, but the concern of the Court is that many of them may be infected by the virus (COVID-19) and therefore reasonable check at the borders is necessary.
2. Presently we have been informed by the learned Advocate General that the only test which is being performed 2 at the borders is thermal screening and general clinical check-up. Since around 80% of such cases are asymptomatic, these tests at the borders may not be effective.
3. The usual test in these cases is RT-PCR, the result of which comes after more than twenty-four hours. On last occasion, we had asked the learned Advocate General to inform us whether the State can perform any rapid testing on the borders itself. No satisfactory reply has been given except that the State has requisitioned such testing kits, but these testing kits have not been supplied to them.
4. We are not experts in this matter and the body which is looking after these matters is ICMR. The learned Assistant Solicitor General of India Mr. Rakesh Thapliyal represents ICMR. We would like to know from him whether such rapid testing can be done at the borders, as a matter of surveillance alone, since we have been informed that it is being done in one district of Uttarakhand i.e. Pauri Garhwal.
5. This we say because it appears to us that at least the rapid testing may be a better way of determination, compared to the thermal screening which is presently going on. We have been informed that ICMR has not granted final approval to these rapid tests. We are only anxious to know, considering the special condition of Uttarakhand, which is facing a huge problem of persons who want to come back to Uttarakhand, whether rapid testing can be performed on such persons at the borders, as it appears to be a more effective way of determination than the thermal screening which is presently going on.
36. To that limited extent, we seek reply from the learned Assistant Solicitor General of India Mr. Rakesh Thapliyal.
7. The details of quarantine centers / rehabilitation centers which have been established by the State Government for those migrant workers who are from outside the State shall also be supplied by the learned State Counsel by the next date of listing.
8. We have also been informed that there is a lack of coordination between the District Authorities and the District Legal Services Authorities in the matter. We would request the Chief Secretary of the State to give proper instructions to the concerned District Authorities to take cooperation with the District Legal Services Authorities in the effective implementation of the schemes, which are presently under way in the COVID-19 pandemic situation.
9. List this case on 18.05.2020.
(Ravindra Maithani, J.) (Sudhanshu Dhulia, J.) 15.05.2020 Avneet/