Restrict gatherings, Telangana High Court tells government

Hyderabad: Twisting the arm of the State government, the High Court on Thursday directed it to issue orders within three days imposing restrictions on gatherings, which are expected during the Christmas, New year and Sankranti celebrations, owing to rise in Omicron cases.

The Division Bench, headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice N Tukaramji, while hearing a batch of writ petitions, directed the State government to formulate a mechanism to screen people at interstate borders as it is being done at airports as the neighbouring states were seeing rise in Omicron infections.

Special Government Pleader Santosh Kumar informed that Bench that the State government was implementing all the Standard Operating Procedures and directives issued by the Union Health Ministry from time to time. Ravichandran, Senior Counsel, appearing for one of the petitioners, sought a direction to the Telangana government to inform the court on the number of citizens who have been vaccinated as the Telangana stands at 3rd place for Omicron-affected people.

The Chief Justice, after hearing the contentions of various counsels, observed, "The Government of India has a dedicated team working on this issue and they are closely monitoring everything by issuing directions to all the State governments and all those directions will be complied with by the Telangana government." While adjourning the batch of pleas to January 4, the Chief Justice assured the counsels that the High Court will monitor the implementation of the directives issued by the Government of India.