Uttarakhand HC issues notice to state tourism minister for defying quarantine norms

Uttarakhand high court (HC) on Friday issued notice to state tourism minister Satpal Maharaj and sought reply from the state government within three weeks on a public interest litigation (PIL), alleging Maharaj had violated quarantine norms and attended the state cabinet meeting on May 29, following which chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and two cabinet ministers, Madan Kaushik, and Harak Singh Rawat, had to self-quarantine themselves on June 1.

Maharaj had attended the cabinet meeting on May 29 and two days later he tested coronavirus disease (Covid-19) positive. Besides CM Rawat and some other ministers, a few senior bureaucrats from the state were also present in the meeting.

Earlier, Maharaj’s wife had tested Covid-19 positive on May 30. The following day, Maharaj, his two sons, daughters-in-law and along with 17 of his staff members tested Covid-19 positive.

On May 20, the Dehradun district administration had pasted a notice on Maharaj’s personal residence to adhere to quarantine norms after two of his guests had come from Delhi amid the easing of nationwide lockdown restrictions, which were imposed from March 25 to contain the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Maharaj had said that the portion of his house, where the quarantine norms were enforced, was separate from where he lived with his family, including his office and the guest room.

Advocate Gopal K. Verma, who appeared on behalf of the petitioner Umesh Kumar, cited in the plea that Maharaj had attended the cabinet meeting in violation of the quarantine notice issued by the Dehradun district magistrate (DM) at his personal residence.

The PIL accused the state government of adopting double standards by booking the general public for violating quarantine norms, while a cabinet minister such as Maharaj was allowed to blatantly violate the rules.

“Why no action should be taken against Maharaj?” advocate Verma asked.

Cabinet minister and state government spokesperson Madan Kaushik said the state government would evaluate the court’s notice and make a submission within the stipulated three weeks.

Dehradun district authorities had said on June 1 CM Rawat and two other Cabinet ministers, Kaushik and Rawat, didn’t need to go under self-quarantine.

The DM had cited that all three were low risk and could carry out their daily work, but they would have to follow the guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on May 18 on precautionary measures to be taken at a workplace to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Opposition Congress has also accused Maharaj of negligence and demanded that he should be booked under an ‘attempt to murder case’ for posing a health risk to others.

“Maharaj, who holds a responsible position as a state Cabinet minister, has shown gross negligence, despite the DM’s notice,” said Garima Dasauni, spokesperson of the Congress’s Uttarakhand unit.