Take call to impose night curfew or lockdown in 48 hrs, T’gana HC directs govt

Hyderabad: Telangana High Court on Monday came down heavily on the state government and asked to take a final call to impose night curfew or weekend lockdown within the next 48 hours.

“If the government does not act on this in next 48 hours, the court will pass orders,” the high court bench, consisting of chief justice Hima Kohli and Justice Vijayasen Reddy said to Advocate General (AG) B.S Prasad.

Expressing dissatisfaction with the government’s approach in controlling the spread of COVID-19 in Telangana, the Chief Justice referred to the total lockdown imposed in Delhi and directed the government to make a swift decision.

The High Court also expressed impatience that the government was not taking any action, except conducting reviews on the spread of COVID-19.

Earlier this morning, the high court bench

reprimanded if the State was contending for the position of COVID-19 topper in the country.

“We are very unhappy with your affidavit as it does not contain any of the details like measures to check footfall in cinema halls and other public places,” the bench said.

The bench expressed displeasure over AG’s comments that the state government is ‘all geared up’ and is following the central government’s guidelines on COVID-19, and pointed that the Centre had asked states to formulate their own guidelines on the issue.

The bench ordered a fresh report in this regard. It also directed the government to register the details of COVID-19 patients on the website. The details of cases registered in GHMC should be submitted ward-wise, the high court said.

The next hearing is set for April 23.