Coronavirus Update: No night curfew in Delhi for now, govt tells HC

No night curfew will be imposed in the national capital or parts of the city as of now, the Delhi government has decided after a detailed assessment of the COVID-19 situation, it informed the Delhi High Court on Thursday.

The Delhi government, in its status report filed before a division bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad, said that it has been taking all necessary measures as required and demanded by the everchanging circumstances and committed to making every effort to arrest the spread of COVID-19 in the national capital.

The submissions come as the Delhi High Court had, in the last hearing, asked the Delhi government to take a call on imposing a night curfew in view of the COVID-19 pandemic situation in the national capital.

The report also said that the Delhi government has collected over Rs 17 crore as fine against over 2 lakh challans issued in respect of COVID violations. It said that the Delhi Police has so far collected fines of over Rs 27 crore against over 5 lakh challans issued by the cops.

The Delhi government has issued an order dated November 28, whereby status quo has been maintained with regard to permitted and restricted activities in Delhi till December 31, 2020, or till the further orders whichever is earlier and therefore, no new activities have been permitted till December 31, the court was informed.

It also submitted that fines collected from the challans are deposited in the government treasury as per the accounting procedure in government and as per the prevailing procedures all expenditure in any department has to be incurred from the budget allocation approved through the legislative procedure. Therefore, COVID-19 related expenditures are being made by departments concerned out of the allocated funds, the status report said.

The Delhi government said that 189 enforcement teams and 145 enforcement vehicles are deployed in the national capital by the government administration. It also said that the Delhi Police has deployed 255 enforcement vehicles and 275 enforcement teams in this regard.

The government also said that arrangement for burial and cremation of those who have succumbed to COVID-19 infection is stated to be sufficient.

The court was hearing a petition filed by lawyer Rakesh Malhotra seeking large-scale testing in the national capital to identify COVID-19 infections. During the hearing, the court again asked the Delhi government to keep the focus on rapid testing in the national capital.

The bench remarked that the present petition is not adversarial but to ensure the public in the city is safe. Meanwhile, the Delhi government also informed the court that there is a decline in the numbers of COVID-19 infections and the death rate in the national capital.

The matter is now listed for further hearing before the court on December 14.

(ANI)