As Covid cases rise, Telangana HC asks state to ramp up testing

HYDERABAD: With the spectre of Covid-19 looming over the State once again, the Telangana High Court on Wednesday ordered the government to increase testing for the pandemic in the State. The High Court also directed the government to speed up the payment of ex-gratia or compensation to the dependants of all people who died due to Covid-19.

As the number of cases is showing an upward tick, the court sought a fresh status report from the State Government within 15 days on the efforts being taken to prevent the spread of the pandemic and the procedure of paying ex-gratia to the kin of those who died due to the infection. Hearing a batch of PILs and writs pertaining to Covid-19, a bench comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili took on record a report filed by the State government and directed it to adhere to the directions given by the centre to keep Covid-19 under check.

The court recalled the Central Government asking the States of Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka to take rigorous steps to combat the rapidly spreading Covid-19. According to the Central government’s circular, there has been a significant increase in Covid-19 instances in the four States. The case has been deferred till June 22. 

HC NOTICE TO UNION HOME SECRETARY ON CONTEMPT PLEA
The HC has issued a notice to the Union Home Secretary directing him to file a response within six weeks to a contempt of court case for failing to stop hate messages from illegally trending on Twitter.  Practising attorney Khaja Aijazuddin had filed the plea during the first wave of Covid seeking action by the Centre to stop trending on Twitter of hate messages with the hashtags #Islamiccoronavirusjihad, #Tablighijamat, and others, as well as to file a criminal complaint against Twitter and its users spreading the hate messages. On April 22, 2021, the court had asked the Union Home Secretary to evaluate the averments made in the petition and take necessary action. Now, the petitioner has filed a contempt case, alleging that the respondent deliberately ignored the court’s instructions.