In view of the increasing cases of coronavirus infections, the Allahabad High Court has urged the Election Commission of India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to postpone the Assembly Elections to be held in Uttar Pradesh next year.
A single-judge bench of Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav passed this order while hearing a bail application. The Court said elections are due to be held in Uttar Pradesh Assembly, for which all parties are gathering lakhs of people by holding rallies, meetings, etc., where it is not possible to follow the coronavirus protocol in any way and if it is not stopped in time, then the result will be much more frightening than the second wave.
In such a situation, Justice Yadav requested the Election Commissioner to immediately stop such rallies, gatherings etc. in which crowds gather and order the political parties to do their campaign and publicity not by gathering crowds in the rally and meeting, but on Doordarshan and News. “Do it through letters and if possible, postpone the elections to be held in February for a month or two, because if there is life, then there are election rallies, meetings will continue to happen, and we have the right to life as Article 21 of the Indian Constitution has given,” the judge said.
“The Prime Minister of our country who has started the campaign of Corona free vaccination in a country with a huge population like India is commendable and the court praises it and requests the Honorable Prime Minister to take strict steps in view of the situation of this dreadful epidemic,”
-the order reads.
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At the same time, such a frightening situation is being shown in newspapers and Doordarshan, when new patients are increasing in new variants and the third wave is knocking. Just in the last second wave, the court has seen that lakhs of people got corona infected and many died. The elections to the Gram Panchayat and the elections to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly infected people a lot, leading to death, said the Judge.
The court made these observations while hearing a bail application of one Sanjay Yadav. During the hearing, the court noted that almost 400 cases are listed before it. A large number of advocates are present and there is no social distancing between them even when Omicron, the new variant of coronavirus, is spreading fast and wide. Patients are increasing and there is a possibility of a third wave. According to the daily newspaper, 6,000 new cases have been found in 24 hours and 318 people have died and this problem is increasing day by day.
With many countries having imposed complete or partial lockdowns, Justice Yadav requested the Registrar General, High Court of Allahabad, to make rules to deal with the dire situation.
The bail application was presented on behalf of the applicant to release him on bail in the case under Section 2 / 3 of the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, Police Station Cantt, District Prayagraj.
It was submitted by counsel for the applicant that the applicant is innocent and he has been falsely implicated in the case. It was also argued that there is a criminal history of two cases against the applicant in which he is out on bail.
It was also argued that the applicant is neither the head and member of any gang nor is he involved in any criminal activities. The applicant has no relation with any gang nor does he have any fear in the society.
It is also argued that the co-accused Sonu Kumar Bharti has been released on bail by the order dated August 26, 2019 of the court. The applicant is detained in jail from the date April 10, 2019.
In such cases the applicant is eligible to be released on bail. On the contrary, the Additional Government Advocate opposed the bail.
Keeping all the facts and circumstances in view and without making any comment on the merits and demerits of the present case, in my opinion, it seems appropriate to release the applicant on bail, the court observed.
The Court ordered that, accordingly, the bail application of the applicant Sanjay Yadav is accepted. He should be released on bail in the above offence with the following conditions, on the satisfaction of the concerned court, on production of a personal bond and two sureties of the same amount.
(1) The applicant shall appear before the court concerned during the trial.
(2) The applicant shall not in any way affect the testimony.
(3) The applicant shall not tamper with the evidence during the trial.
If the above conditions are violated by the applicant, the trial court will be at liberty to cancel the bail of the applicant.