Supreme Court refuses to restrict information related to citizen’s grievances during the pandemic
Supreme Court in its recent hearing has addressed that clamping down the grievance will be treated as contempt of court.
On Friday, the Supreme Court in its hearing said that there should be no restriction to the grievances put up by the people on social media during the pandemic. The court says that it will treat it as contempt of court. The SC bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice L Nageswara Rao and Justice Ravindra Bhat said that free flow of information should be allowed. It also added that there should be no assumption made that the grievances raised by the citizens are false.
The decision was taken by the Supreme Court after the incident that happened in Uttar Pradesh where the administration charged people under NSA( National Security Act) for bringing up false alarms.
The court says that the Covid situation in India is quite serious as there are no beds available for the doctors and health workers. It suggests the Centre convert hostels, religious places and others into covid centres.
The top court raises concerns about the lack of infrastructure in the health sector for the past 70 years. It says that the health infrastructure in India has come under critical situations. They emphasize hiring retired doctors to effectively manage the covid situation prevailing in the country. The government should revamp the process of manufacturing the vaccines. Justice Chandrachud said that the centre should provide funds to private manufacturers to procure vaccines.
Chandrachud suggested that the Centre should start immunization nationwide to provide vaccines for the illiterate ones.
Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General, said during the hearing that there is a shortage of oxygen tankers in Delhi. Justice Chandrachud says that the Delhi government needs to come up with a solution to curb the oxygen shortage.
Mehta explained that the Centre is trying its best in helping the state to a large extent. The court asked the government to increase the quantity of the tankers for the purpose of transportation.
The Supreme Court asked the Solicitor General to give 200 metric additional tons of oxygen to Delhi.
The Supreme Court on April 22nd 2021 took suo moto cognizance of the grave situation of the health emergency happening in the country which includes oxygen shortage. It has issued a notice to the central government to tackle such situations. It further added that the centre should come up with a plan of action to handle the pandemic.
