The Delhi High Court Monday declined to entertain an appeal seeking directions to the Aam AAdmi Party (AAP) government to instantly place the city under lockdown in the light of the growing COVID-19 cases and air pollution levels, saying the petition was "half-baked" and "unnecessary".
A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan said the petition was filed without doing any homework and it ought to be dismissed with costs. It asked the counsel for the petitioner, Dr Kaushal Kant Mishra, whether she will withdraw the petition or should it be dismissed with costs. Mishra's lawyer, Pooja Dhar, agreed to withdraw the plea and sought liberty to move a representation before the appropriate authorities.
The court declined to grant any such liberty and said "petition is dismissed as withdrawn". Delhi government additional standing counsel Gautam Narayan, during the brief hearing, told the bench that there is a specific direction from the central government to all states and Union Territories that no lockdown be imposed without its permission.
He said the petitioner ought to have made the central government a party in the matter as without its concurrence the Delhi government cannot impose a lockdown. Right at the start of the hearing, the bench told Dhar that imposition of a lockdown was a policy decision and the court cannot issue directions for the same.
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