The Aurangabad bench of theBombay High Court on Monday took suo motu (on its own) cognisance of a news item informing that the Maharashtra government has prohibited the door to door delivery of newspapers amidst the coronavirus pandemic.Admitting the news item as a petition, a bench of Justice Prasanna Varale appointed advocate Satyjit Bora as the amicus curie (friend of the court) and directed him to draft a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and submit it on April 24.The HC asked chief government pleader D R Kale to file a response by April 27.In its circular dated April 18, the state government stated that while newspapers can be sold at stalls, door-to- door distribution by vendors cannot be permitted at this stage looking at the rapid spread of coronavirus.Earlier in the day, the Nagpur bench of the HC sought the state government's response to a plea challenging the circular.
