SHILLONG: The Division Bench of the High Court of Meghalaya has asked the state government to maintain a high degree of vigilance to ensure that the spread of COVID-19 is effectively managed and controlled and the commendable work that has been put in so far by them, not go to waste.
The bench comprising judges W Diengdoh and HS Thangkhiew was responding to the pending PIL moved by the High Court of Meghalaya Bar Association and others.
On the issues flagged by the petitioners, which are a genuine cause of alarm and concern for all, the court said it is expected that the state respondents maintain a high degree of vigilance.
During the hearing, senior advocate SP Mahanta and advocate K Paul, appearing on behalf of the petitioners, raised pertinent questions with regard to the current COVID-19 measures being undertaken by the state respondents as also to the other important aspects which have caused concern among the citizens of Shillong in particular and Meghalaya in general.
It was submitted that personnel of the armed forces, who are on transfer, have been entering Meghalaya without being subjected to any tests, as also highly placed Central government officials who on visits to Shillong from Delhi and elsewhere, are not following the set protocols.
Concern has also been raised with regard to the manner of issuance of day passes to persons coming from Assam, who return within the same day, without having any record of the places visited and people they have interacted with.
Information gap
The necessity of proper dissemination of information has also been highlighted to alert people about the presence of infected/high risk contacts, without naming such persons, in such localities to enable the residents to maintain safety standards.
The Advocate General, Amit Kumar, on these points being raised by the petitioner, has decided to file a brief report to apprise the court as to the situation and action taken by the respondents.
The matter will come up for hearing on July 16.
