Everyone has become a Covid expert, PILs keep pouring in: SC

Dhananjay Mahapatra | TNN | May 5, 2020, 19:10 IST

NEW DELHI: Deluged by steady flow of PILs suggesting myriad courses of action that must be adopted by governments during Covid-19 lockdown, an exasperated Supreme Court on Tuesday said everyone seems to have become an expert on the pandemic.
Be it lawyers, social activists, retired cops/bureaucrats or management experts, a large number of PILs by them required the SC to set up benches to deal with at least a dozen of these daily. A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay K Kaul and B R Gavai said, "the problem is that everyone has become an expert on Covid. There is no other petition coming for hearing. People are creating work when there is no work."
Two retired cops, whose counsel reiterated often that they are decorated officers, filed PILs - one seeking SC intervention to direct governments to provide policemen personal protection equipment, while the other sought a direction to quash all FIRs lodged under Section 188 IPC to book persons who violated lockdown.
Appearing for retired cop Bhanupratap Barge, senior advocate Devadatt Kamat said policemen were as much frontline warriors in the war against Covid-19 like doctors, nurses and health workers. They must get protection from infection, he said. Kamat also sought a direction to the Centre and states to incentivise policemen performing a challenging task of enforcing lockdown and maintaining law and order despite being exposed to possible infection. He said sadly Rajasthan, Odisha and Telangana have decided to cut the salaries of policemen.
However, the court refused to entertain the petition saying it is a policy matter to be decided by the governments. It asked Kamat to ask his client to send the petition as a representation to the Union government.
Another petition by retired police officer Vikram Singh contended that police across India have lodged more than 75,000 FIRs under Section 188 of Indian Penal Code (violating lawful orders passed by public servants) to book those who beached lockdown restrictions. The petitioner cited an earlier ruling of the SC saying that offences under Section 188 IPC or non-prosecutable. "Many FIRs are against migrant workers who had gone to withdraw money from ATMs," he said. But the bench refused to entertain the petition saying if Section 188 was not to be invoked, how would the police enforce lockdown during the pandemic.