A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Girish S Kulkarni pronounced its observation on the plea filed by Harshal Mirashi, an advocate.The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed a petitioner, who has sought lifting of the Epidemic Diseases Act in Maharashtra claiming the Covid numbers in the state are inflated, to pay Rs 1 lakh as security deposit before it could hear his PIL.
Labelling it a frivolous petition, which would result in the wastage of precious judicial time, the HC said the petitioner should deposit Rs 1 lakh in court as a precondition to hear the plea, failing which it would be dismissed.
A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Girish S Kulkarni pronounced its observation on the plea filed by Harshal Mirashi, an advocate.
Challenging the constitutional validity of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, which is currently in force in the state, the petitioner sought an order to lift the law as well as the lockdown restrictions.
Mirashi had originally filed the plea at the Supreme Court, which refused to entertain it and asked him to move the HC instead.
The petitioner has also filed an application for an interim order to restrain the Maharashtra government from enforcing a fresh lockdown.
The petitioner said Covid-19 is nothing more than cough and cold, which has been blown out of proportion by ‘certain elements’ to make undue profit by instilling fear in people’s minds. He said the plea is also against the ‘forced use of mask and quarantine’ which amounts to deprivation of liberty of citizens. He also called quarantine “a breach of fundamental rights that causes psychological issues”.
On Wednesday, the bench asked Mirashi if he had complied with the PIL rules and deposited an amount as security for it to continue hearing the PIL.
Mirashi submitted that his petition needed to be heard as many people had lost their jobs due to imposition of lockdown restrictions.
CJ Datta said, “We will hear you, but only after you deposit heavy security for filing such a frivolous petition. If you succeed, you will get the security amount.”
To a question from Justice Kulkarni on whether he believed all the figures related to Covid patients in the state were incorrect, the petitioner said, “The figures are a media hoax and misleading. People dying of other diseases are shown as Covid-19 patients. It is only meant generate fear and play on the minds of vulnerable patients.”
The bench then pulled up Mirashi, asking him to “compare the percentage of the population who have died (due to Covid-19) here (in India) to that in Europe”.
Government pleader Purnima H Kantharia opposed the PIL saying the petitioner should visit St. George Hospital and KEM Hospital in Mumbai to understand the importance of Covid-19 norms formulated by the government.