The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the Centre to meet with Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana officials to devise a “common, uniform” pass system for inter-State movement in the National Capital Region (NCR) areas during the pandemic.
Noting that the common man should not suffer, a Bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan said the Centre and the three States should meet and decide in a week on a common pass system.
“The petition says that in the NCR area there should be one policy, one pass recognised by all the three States to avoid confusion, difficulty to common man... Convene a meeting of the States’ officials and endeavour to find out a common programme with respect to inter-State movement in the NCR,” the court ordered.
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Justice Bhushan orally remarked that unless there was a common system in the three States, the latter would pass contradicting directives and the Centre’s guidelines on movement may end up becoming redundant.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Gurugram resident Rohit Bhalla alleging that “complete sealing of borders” within the NCR and restrictions imposed on movement of citizens was in violation of the new guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The plea sought to declare as unconstitutional the measures by the district administrations of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh which allegedly restrict movement for permissible activities in areas falling within the NCR due to “blanket orders of sealing borders without reasonable exceptions”.
Mr. Bhalla’s petition referred to the April 29 order of district administrations in Haryana, which is applicable to Gurugram and Sonepat, and May 3 public statement by the district administrations of Uttar Pardesh about Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad.
It has alleged that these measures are in violation of the MHA’s May 1 guidelines which allow movement for permissible activities and has been adopted by these States.
It has sought to declare as illegal such measures which restricts movement in the NCR.
“Residents of the NCR who have family members or loved ones residing on either side of the inter-State border within the NCR are facing harassment in crossing the said inter-State borders in cases of medical emergency, access to hospitals/healthcare professionals and essential needs. There is no manner of expediting a pass for medical emergencies,” the plea claimed.
It has sought directions to governments of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to set up and maintain a common portal or mechanism for movement passes within the NCR for permissible activities as per MHA’s guidelines.
The plea has alleged that complete sealing of borders within the NCR and restrictions imposed on movement of citizens from attending to permitted activities are “grossly contradictory” and renders the relaxations ineffective.
