New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ruled that there will be no lockdown in Lucknow, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Kanpur and Gorakhpur, putting on hold the orders issued by Allahabad high court on Monday, April 19. The Uttar Pradesh government had appealed against the high court’s order.
Expressing concern over the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the state, the high court on Monday had passed a series of orders, including a lockdown in the five cities until April 26. Taking exception to this, the Yogi Adityanath government challenged the high court orders in the apex court.
The Uttar Pradesh government argued that while it shared the concern of the high court, it said a number of measures were already in place to contain the spread of the virus, and added locking down cities based on a judicial order “may not be the right approach”. It further said that the high court order infringed upon the rights of the state government.
The high court, while ordering the cities to shut down, had said the pandemic had “virtually incapacitated our medical infrastructure…especially in cities like Prayagraj, Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur and Gorakhpur”. The high court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) pleading for better conditions at quarantine centres and for improved treatment for COVID-19 positive patients.
The Allahabad court further said weekend lockdown and night curfew which are already in place in parts of Uttar Pradesh were nothing but an eyewash given the magnitude of the crisis facing the administration.
Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest single-day rise of 30,596 COVID-19 cases and 129 more deaths. The total number of cases climbed to 8,51,620 and deaths to 9,830.
Additional chief secretary (health) Amit Mohan Prasad said in the last 24 hours, 9,041 patients recovered from the disease.
A total of 6,50,333 COVID-19 patients have so far recovered from the disease in the state, he added.