The Delhi High Court has closed the proceedings on a plea filed last year that sought a dedicated Covid facility for public prosecutors, noting that all possible steps to provide medical facilities to combat the pandemic have been taken by the city government and the Centre.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma disposed of the public litigation by Dishank Dhawan, an additional public prosecutor, and said no further orders are required to be passed on the matter at this stage.
“This court, after careful consideration of submissions canvassed by learned counsel for the respondent, is of the opinion that the UOI (Union of India) and GNCTD (Government of NCT of Delhi) have taken all possible steps for providing medical facilities, i.e. beds, ICU, ventilators, medicines, etc. to combat COVID-19 infection, and no further orders are required to be passed by this court at this stage in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case,” said the bench, also comprising Justice Subramonium Prasad in its order dated November 2.
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The Delhi government counsel submitted that the petition was filed in 2021 when the rate of COVID-19 infection and the consequent hospitalisation was very high.
The court was further informed that taking cognisance of several petitions filed in the court in relation to the pandemic, the Centre as well as the Delhi government established a large number of hospitals having specialised treatment facility for COVID-19 and presently, in view of the status of the virus, there was no question of establishing a dedicated hospital only for public prosecutors.
The petitioner, in his plea, had prayed for a dedicated 100-bed Covid facility for catering to public prosecutors, their staff and family members and also sought that the prosecutors be identified as "frontline workers" and their families be provided vaccination in the dedicated facility.
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“As part of their duty, the public prosecutors and other staff of the prosecution department of the Delhi government faced extreme exposure and worked selflessly and had to interact with public, police and other court staff constantly even during the nationwide lockdown.
"The petitioner and various other public prosecutors and other staff of the prosecution department were exposed to high risk due to public dealing, and have tested positive. The petitioner himself has tested positive for COVID-19 on April 9, 2021," the petition had said.
-With PTI Input
