The court observed that the affected part of Defence Colony has been declared a containment zone. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal)
The Delhi High Court has refused to declare Defence Colony as a containment zone while dealing with a petition seeking enforcement of stricter cluster containment. The order was passed by a division bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan in a petition moved by one Hemant Singh, an advocate.
The petitioner, through his advocate Hemant Singh, pointed out that in spite of the presence of Covid-19 cases in Block-C, the Delhi government had not declared Defence Colony as a containment zone as per the Centre’s guidelines.
In response to the petition, the Delhi government informed the court that as per the Centre’s guidelines, if there is concentration of Covid-19 patients in one or two houses in a particular colony, or in a particular area within the colony, the whole colony need not be declared as a containment zone.
“In view of the aforesaid arguments… also looking to the fact that the affected part of Defence Colony…has already been declared as a containment zone, we see no reason to declare the whole Defence Colony as a containment zone,” the order read.
The petitioner also sought to increase the number of beds for Covid-19 patients in hospitals.
The court said, “In a matter like this, government should be given some degree of movement in joints… Suffice to say that the respondents appear to be aware of the fact that there is a need for more beds for Covid patients and therefore they are issuing directions from time to time.”
“Considering the gravity of the situation, we hereby direct the respondents to increase the number of the beds for Covid patients and also try to increase the number of ventilators so that all Covid patients in need can get these facilities,” the order read.