NEW DELHI: The
Delhi High Court Friday sought response
of the Centre and the AAP government here on a
plea that no centrally air-conditioned building, including courts, be used without taking precautions
to
prevent the
spread
of
COVID-
19.
A bench
of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar issued notice
to the Centre, the Delhi government and the Registrar
of the High Court seeking their stand on the application moved by a lawyer -- K C Mittal.
Mittal, also the head
of the Bar Council
of Delhi, has contended in his
plea that "the cough, sneeze or tear dispersal
of an infected person would be in aerosol form" and the "same can be picked, ingested and circulated by the
central air-conditioning units", like the ones installed in the high court.
He has further contended that while droplet infection can be dealt with by sterilization, once aerosol infection enters the air ducts
of the
central air-conditioning system, it could potentially infect dozens if not hundreds
of persons present in a building.
Central government standing counsel Ajay Digpaul, who appeared
for the
Central Public Works Department, said it has issued guidelines on April 22 with regard
to cleaning and maintenance
of AC units and added that same would be placed before the court.
Delhi government additional standing counsel Sanjoy Ghose and advocate Naman, appearing
for the Public Works Department, said it would file a response before the next date
of hearing.
The bench asked the Registrar General
of the High Court
to look into the guidelines issued by CPWD and listed the matter
for further hearing on May 1.
The application was filed in the main petition on air pollution which the Delhi High Court had initiated on its own in 2015
to deal with the poor air quality in the national capital.
The court keeps issuing directions in the matter from time
to time.
In his application, Mittal has also sought setting up
of a committee
of experts "
to examine the problem and suggest technical solutions thereto, including, but not limited
to implanting ultraviolet disinfectant units into the air circulation system
of the air conditioning".