The Delhi High Court has been showing stringency and sharp surveillance over the Delhi government’s treatment of the coronavirus crisis and the steady rise in the infections. It again came down hard on the Delhi Government and said that it had not been doing enough and was not successfully ensuring enough administrative action to control and contain the rapidly rising numbers of the coronavirus infection. The High Court said that there had been administrative looseness and lack of adequate action on the AAP government’s part as new cases were spiralling in the city. It also asked the government to look at the crisis with a “magnifying glass.” A bench composed of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad asked the Delhi Government why it had been waiting for the court’s intervention in taking steps to reduce the number of guests allowed at weddings in Delhi to 5o so that the spread of the coronavirus pandemic could be effectively prevented. While hearing a PIL filed by Lawyer Rakesh Malhotra that sought a rise in COVID-19 testing in the capital to make sure that it was better prepared to deal with the spiralling coronavirus infections in the Capital, the court made critical observations. The Court rebuked the Delhi Government and asked it to wake up from its prolonged “slumber” and take concrete actions to ensure that the growing cases were tackled and the infection was stopped from spreading further. It was clear from the way in which the court questioned the Delhi Government that it was unhappy and discontented with the steps that it had so far taken to control the infection rates in the Capital and said that there was still a long way to go before its efforts could be considered adequate given the gravity of the situation. The bench had also noted that the fines that are imposed at the moment for not wearing masks should be increased and stringently monitored to ensure that people follow the rules at all costs.It also pointed that not enough was being done to monitor the situation in the city.It underlined that while the government could only function properly when the citizens cooperated, it was the government’s role to generate the awareness and make sure that citizens at least followed the rules.
