ON November 5, 2020, a three-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court gave an order regarding the health of citizens in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic. In Gurusimran Singh Narula vs Union of India & Anr., the Court gave a month’s time to the government to issue directions under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. These were:
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Ban/regulation on the usage of disinfection tunnels involving spraying or fumigation of chemical/organic disinfectants for human beings
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Ban/regulation regarding exposure of human beings to artificial ultraviolet rays
The Supreme Court also observed that for spraying disinfectants, fumigation or use of UV rays on humans, there has to be a regulatory regime. It held that the government has wide powers and responsibilities, which could have been utilised to remedy the situation. The order from the bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan came as a response to a PIL filed by law student Gurusimran Singh Narula who sought a complete ban on usage, production, advertisement, and installation of the sanitisation tunnels.
After the WHO declared the novel coronavirus disease a pandemic on March 11, 2020, all countries took different measures to contain it and protect its citizens. And on March 29, 2020, the health ministry released guidelines on disinfection of common public places, including offices, where it mentioned that though the virus survives on surfaces for varied periods of time, it gets easily inactivated by chemical disinfectants.
On April 18, 2020, the Director-General of Health Services issued an advisory against spraying of disinfectants on people for Covid-19 arrangements. Despite this, several states and organisations started using spraying tunnels to disinfect humans, especially migrants returning home.
This story is from the November 23, 2020 edition of India Legal.
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This story is from the November 23, 2020 edition of India Legal.
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