Control the 2nd COVID wave or we’ll pass orders: HC to TN

If no effective measures are taken by the State government in containing the second COVID wave within a week or 10 days, the court will take up the matter and directions will be passed, the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court said on Wednesday.

Expressing hope that after recovering from election fatigue, effective measures would be put in place to avoid further suffering, the first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, said, “A lockdown may be imminent in Tamil Nadu, albeit in a less restricted form than what was experienced at the same time last year. Now that the elections are over, the continuing government should concentrate on how to contain the second wave of the pandemic.”

However, on pointing out that it is best that no immediate orders are issued by the court at this stage so that the appropriate authorities can deal with the matter, the bench said, “If no effective measures are announced, the court will take up the matter.” Posting the PIL relating to subjecting international travellers to RT-PCR test for further hearing after two weeks, the bench also pointed out, “Even this court, after resuming physical hearing had to scale it down because of the spike.” In an earlier hearing, the Chief Justice remarked that the situation appears to be worse than what it was and yet there was no lockdown, no masks and people appeared to be taking chances.