Why jostle now when you did nothing for 14 months? CJ slams Centre on lack of preparedness
CHENNAI: Expressing strong indignation over the Centre’s lack of preparedness for the past 14 months in handling the second COVID wave after a year of lockdown, Madras High Court Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee on Thursday slammed the Centre on the advice it was receiving when any respectable doctor would have told them not to let the guards down.
Asking the Centre as to why it was working in April to make June better, the first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, sought to know as to what the Centre was doing the past year, instead of jostling now, when the second wave of COVID-19 is at its peak.
Stressing that there cannot be adhocism in dealing with the pandemic, Chief Justice Banerjee held that the Centre should have acted in a planned and informed manner with expert advice.
Chief Justice Banerjee made the observations while hearing a suo motu plea on the State’s preparedness in handling the raging second wave, when Additional Solicitor General R Sankaranarayanan claimed that the second wave was unexpected.
In the context of counting of votes scheduled on May 2, the Chief
Justice pointed out that the Election Commission of India has sufficient authority to take over even the administrations and strictly impose coronavirus protocols. But all of this remains just words and letters and nothing gets implemented on the ground.
The Chief Justice also appealed to the political parties to not have mass congregations, celebrations and procession throwing flowers and hugging each other as if they all have discovered a new universe.
“However, we do say that the political class will not care for it. They are not bothered about people dying on the streets. None of them give a second thought to this. But the State and ECI have to act, ” the Chief Justice added.
Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee also appealed to the political parties to not have mass congregations, celebrations and procession throwing flowers and hugging each other as if they all have discovered a new universe