IN RE: PROPER TREATMENT OF COVID 19 PATIENTS AND DIGNIFIED HANDLING OF DEAD BODIES IN THE HOSPITALS ETC.versus.

762                      [2020]REPORTS
               SUPREME COURT   13 S.C.R. 762               [2020] 13 S.C.R.


A      IN RE: PROPER TREATMENT OF COVID 19 PATIENTS AND
           DIGNIFIED HANDLING OF DEAD BODIES IN THE
                         HOSPITALS ETC.
                  (Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) No.7 of 2020)
                              DECEMBER 18, 2020
B
             [ASHOK BHUSHAN, R.SUBHASH REDDY AND
                        M.R. SHAH, JJ.]
             Disaster Management: Covid 19 pandemic – Directions passed
      with regard to fire safety measures in Covid Hospitals – State
C     Government and the Local Administration to make more provisions
      for treatment of Covid patients – Strict and stern action be taken
      against those violating the Guidelines and SOPs – State
      Governments to issue necessary directions with regard to deployment
      of more police personnel at crowded places – Permission for
      celebration and gathering be not granted unless essential – There
D     shOuld be a mechanism to check the number of people attending
      such function/gathering – Authorities to undertake more testings
      and implement weekend curfews and take measures for sealing
      containment zones – Regarding gathering organised by political
      parties, Election Commission of India issued broad guidelines for
E     conduct of General Elections/Bye Elections during Covid 19 – All
      the State/Union Territory to issue necessary directions to ensure
      compliance of those guidelines – States and Union of India granted
      four weeks time to file affidavit bringing on record various measures
      taken.

F            CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: Suo Moto writ Petition
      (Civil) No.7 OF 2020
            (UNDER ARTICLE 32 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA)
           IN RE: THE PROPER TREATMENT OF COVID 19
      PATIENTS AND DIGNIFIED HANDLING OF DEAD BODIES IN
G     THE HOSPITAL ETC.
            Atul Nanda, AG, Tushar Mehta, SG, K.M. Nataraj, ASG, Nalin
      Kohli, AAG, K.V. Vishwanathan, Ms. Manisha Lavkumar, Dr. Manish
      Singhvi, Jayanth Muthuraj, Sr. Advs., Kumar Anurag Singh, Addl. Standing
      Counsel, Shantanu Sharma, Gurmeet Singh Makker, Rajat Nair, Kanu
H     Agrawal, Prashant Singh B, Raj Bahadur Yadav, Saurabh Mishra, Mohd.
                                        762
 IN RE: PROPER TREATMENT OF COVID 19 PATIENTS AND DIGNIFIED                  763
        HANDLING OF DEAD BODIES IN THE HOSPITALS ETC.


Akhil, B. V. Balaram Das, Abhimanyu Tewari, Ms. Eliza Bar, Shuvodeep         A
Roy, Ankit Roy, Rahul Raj Mishra, Ms. Nimisha, Chirag M. Shroff, Ms.
Abhilasha Bharti, Arun R. Pedneker, Sachin Patil, Aniruddha P. Mayee,
Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, Ms. Aastha Mehta, Anish Kumar Gupta,
Ms. Archana Preeti Gupta, Chandra Shekhar Suman, Puneet Sheoran,
Ms. Rita Gupta, Ms. Deepshikha Bharati, Dr. Monika Gusain, Himanshu
                                                                             B
Tyagi, Saurabh Jain, Anando Mukherjee, G.M. Kawoosa, Ms. Manjula
Gupta, Ms. Priyanka Prakash, Ms. Beena Prakash, G. Prakash,
Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Karun Sharma,
Rahul Chitnis, Geo Joseph, Amit Kumar, Avijit Mani Tripathi, T.K. Nayak,
Abhikalp, Siddhesh Kotwal, Divyansh Tiwari, Ms. Ana Upadhyay, Mrs.
K. Enatoli Sema, Amit Kumar Singh, Ms. Uttara Babbar, Ms. Bhavana            C
Duhoon, Manan Bansal, Sandeep Kumar Jha, M. Yogesh kanna,
Rajarajeshwaran, Aditya Chadha, S. Udaya Kumar Sagar, Ms. Swati
Bhardwaj, Suhaan Mukerji, Ms. Liz Mathew, Vishal Prasad, Nikhil
Parikshith, Sayandeep Pahari for M/s PLR Chambers and Co., Ms.
Garima Prashad, Nagender Singh, Raghvendra Kumar, Anand Kumar
                                                                             D
Dubey, Narendra Kumar, Shubhranshu Padhi, Ashish Yadav, Rakshit
Jain, Vishal Bansal, Shibashish Misra, K.V. Jagdishvaran, Ms. G. Indira,
V.G. Pragasam, S. Prabu Ramasubramanian, Awanish Sinha, S.K.
Mohanty, Ms. Sweta Rani, Ms. Gitanshi Arora, Pawan Shree Agrawal,
Ms. Abhipsa Anamika, Ashish Wad, Ms. Tamali Wad, Sidharth Mahajan,
Ms. Sukriti Jaggi, Ajeyo Sharma, M/s J S Wad and Co., Subhash Chandran,      E
Biju P Raman, M. Shoeb Alam, Talha Abdul Rahman, Dr. Ishwar Gilada,
Rohit Rathi, Shashank Deo Sudhi, Ms. Aparna Bhat, Ms. Karishma
Maria, Advs. for the appearing parties.
      Mukesh Kumar, applicant in person.
      The following Order of the Court was passed:                           F

                                ORDER
       1. We have heard Shri Tushar Mehta, learned Solicitor General
for India and learned counsel appearing for various States. By our order
dated 27.11.2020 passed in this proceeding we have taken suo motu            G
cognizance of the incident which happened in Rajkot, Gujarat on
26.11.2020 resulting in death of Covid patients in the Covid Hospital.
The Court has also taken notice of earlier incidents of fire in Covid
Hospitals. Learned Solicitor General had submitted that immediate steps
shall be taken and the report will be submitted. State of Gujarat was also
directed to submit the report.                                               H
764              SUPREME COURT REPORTS                        [2020] 13 S.C.R.


A             2. Affidavits have been filed by Union of India on 30.11.2020 and
      11.12.2020. The Union of India in its affidavit dated 30.11.2020 has
      brought on record the letter dated 28.11.2020 issued by Ministry of Home
      Affairs, Government of India. The Government of India issued advisory
      to all the States to prevent the recurrence of fire incident in Covid
      Hospitals and Nursing Homes. The Union of India has called for the
B
      status of implementation of guidelines issued in reference to preventing
      recurrence of fire accidents in Hospitals, status of ‘No Objection
      Certificate’, report regarding inspection and re-inspection of Hospitals
      and Nursing Homes. In pursuance of the orders issued by Union of
      India to all the States, status reports were sent to the Union of India
C     which has been compiled in Affidavit dated 11.12.2020. Although different
      States and Union Territories have taken measures and conducted
      inspections, found out shortcomings regarding prevention of occurrence
      of fire in the Hospitals and Nursing Homes, further, audits and inspections
      are required to be taken. Few States have also filed their separate
      affidavits enumerating their steps taken by them in compliance of the
D
      advisory and requirement for. The Union of India has directed the States
      and Union Territories to update their respective local building bye laws/
      fire services synchronising them in line of “Model Bill on maintenance
      of fire and emergency service, 2019”, circulated by Ministry of Home
      Affairs on 16.09.2019.
E            3. The State of Gujarat has filed separate affidavit bringing on
      record the directions issued by the State and the details of inspection
      undertaken and audit of few dedicated Covid hospitals. It has further
      stated that a nodal officer for fire safety has been appointed in dedicated
      covid hospitals (Government and Private hospitals). We with regard to
F     above, issue following directions:-
            1)    All States/Union Territories should appoint one nodal officer
                  for each covid hospital, if not already appointed, who shall
                  be made responsible for ensuring the compliance of all fire
                  safety measures.
G           2)    In each district, State Government should constitute a
                  committee to carry fire audit of each Covid hospital atleast
                  once in a month and inform the deficiency to the management
                  of the hospital and report to the Government for taking follow
                  up action.
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 IN RE: PROPER TREATMENT OF COVID 19 PATIENTS AND DIGNIFIED                    765
        HANDLING OF DEAD BODIES IN THE HOSPITALS ETC.


      3)    The Covid hospital who have not obtained NOC from fire             A
            department of the State should be asked to immediately apply
            for NOC and after carrying necessary inspection, decision
            shall be taken. Those Covid hospitals who have not renewed
            their NOC should immediately take steps for renewal on
            which appropriate inspection be taken and decision be taken.
                                                                               B
            In event, Covid Hospital is found not having NOC or not
            having obtained renewal, appropriate action be taken by the
            State.
       4. The State of Gujarat has also brought on record the notification
appointing Justice D.A. Mehta to undertake enquiry with regard to fire
in Shrey Hospital, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, in addition to enquiry in to        C
the incident of fire in Uday Shivanand Hospital, Rajkot. The State to
extend all cooperation to the Enquiry Commission so that Enquiry report
be submitted at early date and the appropriate remedial action be taken
by the State.
       5. Due to unprecedented Pandemic, everybody in the world is             D
suffering, one way or the other. It is a world war against COVID-19.
Therefore, there shall be Government Public Partnership to avoid world
war against COVID-19.
        6. Right to health is a fundamental right guaranteed under Article
21 of the Constitution of India. Right to health includes affordable           E
treatment. Therefore, it is the duty upon the State to make provisions for
affordable treatment and more and more provisions in the hospitals to be
run by the State and/or local administration are made. It cannot be disputed
that for whatever reasons the treatment has become costlier and costlier
and it is not affordable to the common people at all. Even if one survives     F
from COVID-19, many times financially and economically he is finished.
Therefore, either more and more provisions are to be made by the State
Government and the local administration or there shall be cap on the
fees charged by the private hospitals, which can be in exercise of the
powers under the Disaster Management Act.
                                                                               G
      7. Despite the Guidelines and SOPs issued, for lack of
implementation the Pandemic has spread like wild fire. A strict and stern
action should be taken against those who are violating the Guidelines
and SOPs, whoever he may be and whatever position the violator is
occupying.
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766               SUPREME COURT REPORTS                         [2020] 13 S.C.R.


A             8. Every State must act vigilantly and to work with the Centre
      harmoniously. It is the time to rise to the occasion. Safety and health of
      the citizens must be the first priority, rather than any other considerations.
              9. People should understand their duty and follow rules very strictly.
      It is the duty of every citizen to perform their fundamental duties as
B     guaranteed under the Constitution of India. By not following the
      Guidelines/SOPs issued by the State from time to time, such as, not
      wearing the masks, not keeping social distances, to participate in the
      gatherings and the celebrations without maintaining social distances, they
      are ultimately not damaging themselves but they cause damage to the
      others also. They cannot be permitted to play with the lives of the others
C     and they cannot be permitted to infringe the rights of other citizens, like
      right to health guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
              10. There is a need to help and guide our people to implement the
      guidelines and the SOPs issued by the Government, either the Union or
      the State, such as, wearing of masks, keeping the social distance etc. In
D     many States, despite the huge fine recovered, such as, Rs. 80 to 90
      crores in the State of Gujarat alone, people are not following the guidelines
      and the SOPs. There must be a strict implementation by the authorities
      so as to ensure that the SOPs and the guidelines issued from time to
      time are strictly adhered to and followed by the people. Additional Chief
      Secretary (Home)/Secretary (Home) of respective States shall ensure
E     the strict implementation of the SOPs and the guidelines with the help of
      the concerned Superintendent of Police/District Superintendent of Police
      and the Police In-charge of the concerned police station.
             11. We have already issued various directions with regard to
      measures to be taken to contain the Covid-19. We once again reiterate
F     the State to issue necessary directions with regard to following measures
      so as to effectively monitor and supervise the implementation of various
      SOPs and guidelines.
            i)     More and more police personnel shall be deployed at the
                   places where there is likelihood of gathering by the people,
G                  such as, Food Courts, Eateries, Vegetable Markets
                   (Wholesale or Retail), sabzi Mandies, bus stations, railway
                   stations, street vendors, etc.
            ii)    As far as possible, unless must, no permission shall be granted
                   by the local administration or the Collector/DSP for
H                  celebration/gathering even during the day hours and wherever
IN RE: PROPER TREATMENT OF COVID 19 PATIENTS AND DIGNIFIED                 767
       HANDLING OF DEAD BODIES IN THE HOSPITALS ETC.


          the permissions are granted, the local administration/DSP/       A
          Collector/Police In-charge of the local police station shall
          ensure the strict compliance of the Guidelines/SOPs. There
          should be a mechanism to check the number of people
          attending such function/gathering, such as, the particulars
          with respect to how many persons are going to attend the
                                                                           B
          celebration/gathering, timings during which the celebration/
          gathering is to take place etc.
   iii)   There shall be more and more testing and to declare the
          correct facts and figures. One must be transparent in number
          of testing and declaring the facts and figures of the persons
          who are Corona Positive. Otherwise, the people will be misled    C
          and they will be under impression that everything is all right
          and they will become negligent.
   iv)    Whenever directions are issued under the Disaster
          Management Act directing the corporate hospitals/private
          hospitals to keep 50% or any other percentage free municipal     D
          beds, it must be strictly complied with and there shall be
          constant vigilance and supervision.
   v)     There shall be free helpline numbers to redress the grievances
          of common man, when there is non- compliance of the
          directions by the private hospitals/corporate hospitals.         E

   vi)    Curfew on weekends/night be considered by States where
          it is not in place.
   vii)   In a micro containment zone or in an area where number of
          cases are on higher side, to cut the chain, they should be       F
          sealed and there should be complete lockdown so far as such
          areas are concerned. Such containment areas need to be
          sealed for few days except essential services. The same is
          required to break the chain of virus spread.
   viii) Any decision to impose curfew and/or lockdown must be
                                                                           G
         announced long in advance so that the people may know
         and make provisions for their livelihood, like ration etc.
   ix)    Another issue is a fatigue of front row health care officers,
          such as, Doctors, Nurses as well as workers. They are
          already exhausted physically and mentally due to tireless
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768             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                          [2020] 13 S.C.R.


A                work for eight months. Some mechanism may be required to
                 give them intermittent rest.
             12. One more issue has been raised before us regarding gathering
      organised by Political parties. The Political parties organise different
      proceedings in connection of election as well as in reference to election
B     of different level including the General Election which are to take place
      in few States next year.
             13. The Election Commission of India has issued broad guidelines
      for conduct of General Elections/Bye-Elections during Covid-19 in August,
      2020. With regard to campaign of political parties following are the
C     guidelines issued by Election Commission of India: -
            “13. CAMPAIGN BY THE POLITICAL PARTIES/
            CONTESTING CANDIDATES
           1)    Door to Door Campaign: - Subject to any other
                 restriction(s) including extant COVID-19 guidelines, a group
D                of 5(five) persons including candidates, excluding security
                 personnel, if any, is allowed to do door to door campaigning.
           2)    Road Shows: -The Convoy of vehicles should be broken
                 after every 5(five) vehicles instead of 10 vehicles (excluding
                 the security vehicles, if any). The interval between two sets
E                of convoy of vehicles should be half an hour instead of gap
                 of 100 meters. (In supersession of Para 5.8.1 of Returning
                 Officer’s Handbook 2019)”
           3)    Election Meetings: - Public gatherings/rallies may be
                 conducted subject to adherence to extant COVID-19
F                guidelines. District Election Officer should take following
                 steps for this purpose.
                  (a) District Election Officer should, in advance, identify
                      dedicated grounds for public gathering with clearly
                      marked Entry/Exit points.
G                 (b) In all such identified grounds, the District Election Officer
                      should, in advance, put markers to ensure social
                      distancing norms by the attendees.
                  (c) Nodal District Health Officer should be involved in the
                      process to ensure that all COVID-19 related guidelines
H                     are adhered to by all concerned in the district.
 IN RE: PROPER TREATMENT OF COVID 19 PATIENTS AND DIGNIFIED                        769
        HANDLING OF DEAD BODIES IN THE HOSPITALS ETC.


                (d) District Election Officer and District Superintendent of       A
                    Police should ensure that the number of attendees does
                    not exceed the limit prescribed by State Disaster
                    Management Authority for public gatherings.
                (e) DEO should depute Sector Health Regulators to oversee
                    that COVID-19 instructions/guidelines are being                B
                    followed during these meetings.
                (f) The political parties and candidates concerned should
                    ensure that all COVID-19 related requirement like face
                    masks, sanitizers, thermal scanning etc. are fulfilled
                    during each of these activities.                               C
                (g) Non-Compliance of Instructions:- Anybody violating
                    instructions on COVID-19 measures will be liable to
                    proceeded against as per the provisions of Section 51 to
                    60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, besides legal
                    action under Section 1988 of the IPC, and other legal          D
                    provisions as applicable, as specified in Order No.40-3/
                    2020- DM-I(A) dated 29th July, 2020 of Ministry of
                    Home Affairs. District Election Officer should bring this
                    to the notice of all concerned.
      4)        Allocation of public spaces must be done using Suvidha app         E
                in the manner already prescribed by Commission.”
       14. All the States / Union Territories to issue necessary directions
to ensure compliance of aforesaid guidelines and guidelines although
were issued by General Election/Bye Election, that can be implemented
by different States with suitable modifications with reference to Elections        F
of other organisations to ensure safety of people in general from Covid-
19.
        15. We allow further four weeks’ time to all the States and Union
of India to file affidavit bringing on record various measures as indicated
in this order for consideration and further directions.
                                                                                   G
       List after four weeks.


Devika Gujral                                                  Directions issued


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