PIL Filed In MP HC Demanding Imposition Of NSA For Holding Large Political Gatherings Violating COVID-19 Norms In The State [ Read Petition]

A Petition has been filed before the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking directions for the respondents to take actions under the 'National Securities Act 1980', against the persons responsible for organising political gatherings in the State and to stop political campaigns violating Covid-19 norms. The Petition has been filed by a social worker Kamal Bhagwat through Advocate Abhijeet Yadav claiming that the leaders of Bhartiya Janta Party have been organising large public gatherings in the areas scheduled to undergo polls, thus, violating precautionary guidelines issued, posing health risk to the public at large. The Petition specifically states, "The public at large is being exposed to the deadly threat of the COVID-19 as the situation could be worse than what happened in the Nizamuddin Markaz incident of the COVID-19 spread when the total numbers of COVID-19 cases were below 5000 in the Country" The petitioner has also declared in the petition that "in spite of various representations have been made before the authorities, this issue has neither being dealt or decided nor any actions on the persons responsible for such an act has been taken to date." The Petition further contends that, while on one side, in the current situation of the pandemic, social distancing is being followed and various precautions are being taken, but on the other hand, large scale social gatherings are being organised by the politicians, and which may expose the lives of not only the people participating in such gatherings but also the other citizens to deadly risk and no action is being taken by the respondents herein.