An intervention application has been filed before the Supreme Court opposing the return of migrant workers to their homes before the end of lockdown posing serious threat in containing the spread of COVID 19.
The application has been filed by Kamlakar R.Shenoy seeking permission of intervention in the PIL filed for a direction to the appropriate authorities for safe travel of migrant workers to their hometowns and villages.
The applicant has submitted that “in order to control the spread of coronavirus, proper Lockdown is very necessary and in order to keep the Lockdown partial and equal for each citizen and in such situation nobody should be allowed to violate the lockdown norms including migrant workers so that virus is not spread and people’s lives can be saved.”
The applicant further states that according to reports the present healthcare system cannot be said to provide accurate results and common test for COVID -19 may produce false negative up to 30%.
“The petitioner’s contention is that those who have tested COVID-19 should be allowed is laughable and preposterous, and there are all likely hood that respective authorities just to run away from their responsibility of providing reliefs and shelter may just declare large number of poor migrants COVID negative and it will be used as tool to show decrease in COVID positive cases putting citizens at large at risk which means that even after COVID negative test patient is still at risk.”
Hence, the applicant has prayed that his application be allowed to prevent further spread of COVID 19 by allowing migrant workers to travel back to their homes.
-India Legal Bureau