The Nagpur Municipal Corporation
and District Collector on Tuesday refuted claims authorities have illegally detained 1,408 people from two coronavirus hotspots and informed the Bombay High Court that only high- risk contact persons have been sent to quarantine facilities.
Justice A S Kilor of the HC's Nagpur bench was hearing a petition filed by local resident Mohammad Nishat, alleging the city civic authorities illegally detained 1,408 people from Satranjipura and Mominpura areas on the ground they were high-risk contacts of those who tested positive for COVID-19.
According to the petitioners advocate, Tushar Mandlekar, the authorities randomly picked up 1,408 people and thus, violated the prescribed protocols and guidelines issued by the Union government and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Mandlekar argued that only persons found to be coronavirus positive or their high-risk contacts can be detained and quarantined for 14 days.
The 1,408 people detained by authorities do not fall under these categories and hence, detaining them amounts to infringement of their fundamental rights, he said.
The Nagpur civic body in its affidavit filed on Tuesday said it has followed all the guidelines issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research while quarantining people from Satranjipura and Mominpura areas of Nagpur city.
The civic body after following the guidelines had categorized these persons as being high-risk contacts and only after such identification, they were sent to quarantine facilities.
"All the persons detained from these areas are high- risk contacts and as such have been rightly sent to quarantine facilities, the affidavit said.
Many of the persons who have been quarantined have tested positive when tests were conducted, the corporation said.
Nagpur district collector Ravindra Thakare in his affidavit said all steps taken by the authorities are with the singular aim of reducing the spread of COVID-19 and for safeguarding the lives of citizens.
The cases of COVID-19 are increasing day by day in Nagpur district and the position is critical and dynamic in nature, the Collector said in his affidavit.
He added that the Nagpur corporation is making all necessary arrangements at quarantine facilities, including food and medicines.
The petition had also claimed that these people have been sent to quarantine facilities set up in the MLA Hostel and Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT), which are located in crowded areas.
As per guidelines issued by ICMR and the Union government, a quarantine facility should preferably be on the outskirts of a city, Mandlekar argued.
To this, the corporation in its affidavit said that quarantine facilities are not located in crowded areas and are secured by police.
"The two quarantine facilities where the 1408 persons are presently kept is as per the guidelines issued by ICMR and union government which says the facility should be well protected and secure, should have ample parking space and should have easy access for delivery of food, medicines and so on, the affidavit said.
The court, after hearing brief arguments in the case, closed it for judgment.
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