Man is corona in Haridwar
The police at many places are using innovative methods to create awareness among people about coronavirus. In Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh), a police officer is going around singing a song asking people to stay safe indoors. In Haridwar the Kotwali made a man dress up as “Yamaraj” (God of Death) and he moved around asking people to take precautions “otherwise you will be inviting me, the Yamaraj, come to take you away.” Now the police have chosen a new character—a man dressed as “coronavirus”. He is telling people that “I will kill you if you don’t listen to the health experts’ advice to stay away from me. Learn to fear me.”
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Legal counselling must be essential service
Men in Black are getting restless as courts are virtually not functioning due to lockdown. In Delhi, the Supreme Court, the High Court and the trial courts are taking only urgent matters online. In some urgent matters, the courts are holding proceedings through video conferencing. This is causing misery to many lawyers who are finding it difficult to meet two ends meet. Asked what he was doing at home, a High Court criminal lawyer sarcastically said, “Nothing much. Eating, watching Ramayan and Mahabharata on Doordarshan and sleeping.” Further asked whether he had learnt anything from these epic serials, he replied, “What is there to learn? Ramayana is a case of kidnapping and Mahabharata is a property matter.”
The Sunday Guardian spoke to many lawyers. Most of them felt that delivery of justice should be part of “essential services”. “Access to legal counsel must not be made difficult to persons getting arrested even for minor crimes during the lockdown,” a senior advocate.
The video-conferencing system has also been causing hurdles and advocates say it is in “breach” of the fundamental right of the accused, who are not able to get proper legal representation.
The Delhi State Legal Services Authority claims that it has deputed their counsel at jail premises and with the magistrate’s on duty in courts, so that none of the accused goes unrepresented. A lawyer at the High Court, Amit Khemka, says that “freshly arrested persons for various offences and their families do not know how to contact lawyers for legal help. Fundamental rights of such under trials stand suspended in this lockdown.” And, he adds, lawyers are facing problems in sending a PDF file of their applications to convince the judge of the urgency of the matter. Not all advocates are in a position to avail video conferencing facility.
Meanwhile, the founder of a Bengaluru-based NGO, Helping Citizen, Alam Pasha, has written to the Chief Justice of India and the Chief Justices of various High Courts seeking that the accused or a person in need be allowed to defend themselves. “In the lockdown, litigants and under trials’ choice have been curtailed as the advocates’ chambers in the courts have been sealed, making the reach of any litigant or victim or their family for habeas corpus or any legal help is 100% restricted,” Pasha told this newspaper.
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Delhi judge tested Covid positive
While a 42-year-old Delhi’s Saket Court staffer died of coronavirus infection some days ago, a city judge on deputation has tested positive. Sources revealed that the judge was found to be a Covid-19 patient 10 days ago. This has led to 20 people to be put under “home quarantine”. The judge is undergoing treatment in a south Delhi hospital. A member at the Delhi State Legal Services Authority said that the judge’s wife, daughter and his nephew have also tested positive and they are at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jhajjar (Haryana). The District and Sessions Courts Employee Welfare Association’s General Secretary, Deepak Bhardwaj, said that the Saket Courts staffer, who died at the hospital some days ago, was working in a copy agency and was regularly visiting a hospital in south Delhi for dialysis as he was suffering from a kidney problem, and there he came in contact with a corona positive nurse, who used to do his dialysis. The association has decided to give Rs 1 lakh to his family.
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Let salt flow freely
Vinay P. Sahasrabuddhe, BJP’s vice-president, is worried about his home-state Maharashtra’s salt farms, who, he says, are facing difficulties due to the lockdown. To help them, Sahasrabuddhe has knocked the doors of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. A Rajya Sabha Member, Sahasrabuddhe belongs to Thane. In his special request he has asked the ministry to relax restrictions for salt farms and plants in the coastal areas. “This is the peak season for salt manufacturing and all plants are closed due to the lockdown. It’s not a manpower intensive industry and workers would not have to get together for making salt,” he has pointed out. “This industry should be included in the sectors that have got relaxation”.
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Man Mohan can be contacted at rovingeditor@gmail.com