On posters outside Covid-hit patients’ homes, SC seeks Centre’s reply

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre to respond to a public interest litigation (PIL) that demanded a stop to the prevailing practice of pasting posters outside the homes of persons infected by the coronavirus (Covid-19).

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, RS Reddy and MR Shah felt that the issue raised in the PIL filed by Kush Kalra was relevant after the Delhi High Court on November 3 directed the Delhi government to issue a circular in this regard. The petition stated that such an exercise undertaken by the Centre or states under the Disaster Management Act, stigmatised persons suffering from the disease and infringed their privacy and right to live with dignity protected under Article 21 of the Constitution.

The bench asked the petitioner’s lawyer Chinmoy Pradip Sharma to supply a copy of the petition to the Solicitor General and asked Centre to consider this demand and file response in two weeks.

It was Kalra who had earlier approached the Delhi High Court that led to the practice of affixing posters outside homes of Covid-19 infected persons in Delhi being discontinued. He sought similar orders for the entire country. According to his petition, due to these posters, the names of Covid-19 patients are forwarded by the health departments in states to the concerned resident welfare associations. Circulation of such names in WhatsApp groups leads to stigmatisation of such persons in their neighbourhood and community.

During the hearing, Justice Bhushan observed that directions cannot be issued to each state. Instead, the Centre could consider issuing a common circular to all states and union territories.

The petition claimed that the practice of affixing posters was a primitive one that commenced during the plague epidemic in the 1730s.

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