The Madras High Court on Wednesday granted time till Thursday for the State government to file its counter affidavit to a public interest litigation petition filed by the DMK challenging the restrictions imposed on distribution of relief material to those affected by the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown.
Justices R. Subbiah and R. Pongiappan heard preliminary arguments advanced by senior counsel P. Wilson, representing the DMK, and permitted Advocate-General (A-G) Vijay Narayan to file a counter affidavit before taking a call on the issue. The judges asked the DMK to spell out how it had planned to avoid gathering of crowd during relief distribution.
Mr. Wilson alleged that starvation deaths had begun in the State with reports of one person dying for want of food. Accusing the government of not taking any steps to address the issue, he wondered why there should not be restriction when markets and ration shops were open.
Making it clear that the DMK had no objection to informing local police stations before carrying out the distribution work, he said its objection was only to insistence on obtaining permission from government officials. “We will certainly intimate but there is no need to get their permission. It is nothing but bureaucratic red-tapism,” he said.
The A-G told the court that the government had not banned volunteers from distributing relief material. All that had been insisted upon was for them to work in tandem with the designated government officials to ensure that physical distancing and other protocols were followed. He feared spread of the disease if the norms were not adhered to.
Vaiko’s petition
Although MDMK leader Vaiko too had filed a similar petition, he was not present in the court when the case was called out. Additional Advocate-General S.R. Rajagopal informed the judges that it was connected to the case filed by the DMK. Hence, the judges adjourned it to Thursday to be heard along with many other related cases.