17, Apr 2021 | CJP Team

In wake of a drastic surge in Covid-19 cases among citizens attending the Kumbh Mela, the Government of Delhi has now laid down certain restrictions and procedures for those who have returned and for those willing to attend the same. 

People from both these categories were obliged to upload their detailed information on www.delhi.gov.in, further mandating a 14-day quarantine for those who have visited the said festival. Tracing and surveillance of such citizens on a daily basis is permitted in the best interests of the general citizens, while any non-compliance with the said instructions is to be punished with the relevant provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and the Indian Penal Code, 1860. 

While introducing contract tracing of such persons is a commendable move, the said guidelines are silent on registering such persons who do not have access to electronic gadgets. Moreover, the Government should have restricted people from visiting the Kumbh Mela in the first case, since such movement is not an urgency – professing religion is subject to public health and curbing the movement of persons to that effect is Constitutionally permissible and necessary, all of which seems to have been forgone by the State Government.