Protests, public gatherings prohibited due to covid surge

New Delhi: The AAP government told the Delhi High Court on Wednesday that the Disaster Management Authority (DMA) has prohibited public gatherings, including for festival celebrations and protests, in view of the surge in COVID-19 cases.

The submission was made before Justice Prathiba M Singh during the hearing of the pleas by AAP MLAs Raghav Chadha and Atishi Marlena seeking permission to protest outside the residences of Home Minister Amit Shah and Lt Governor Anil Baijal.

Delhi government additional standing counsel Gautam Narayan told the court that the Delhi DMA or DDMA has issued an order on March 23 prohibiting all public gatherings in the national capital in view of the surge in COVID-19 cases. Delhi reported 1,101 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the highest in over three months, while four people succumbed to the disease.

During the brief hearing on Wednesday, the court asked the lawyers for the two MLAs whether they were still pressing their pleas challenging the denial of permission to protest as 'circumstances have changed".

The lawyers for the two MLAs said there have been some subsequent developments and therefore, they wanted to file some fresh affidavit.