Bombay High Court dismisses Goa govt's application seeking vacation of order barring entry of persons without COVID-19 negative certificate

The Goa Bench of Bombay High Court on Tuesday dismissed the application filed by the State of Goa seeking modification of its order dated May 6 restricting entry of persons into the State without a COVID-19 negative test report. .The Court had ordered the Goa government to ensure that no person is allowed entry into the State without a COVID-19 negative certificate obtained within 72 hours before entering the State.The State was, however, permitted to place on record its protocol regarding entry of persons into Goa for the Court to consider whether the May 6 order would be required to be varied or modified accordingly..Accordingly, the State government moved an application seeking a modification of the order on the ground that the conditions for carrying a COVID-19 negative certificate for all persons entering the State may not be feasible in the present situation..Advocate General Devidas J Pangam, appearing for the State, contended that Goa was heavily dependent on the neighbouring states for essential supplies like foodgrains, fruits, vegetables and essential medicines that form the backbone of COVID-19 treatment..He argued that since essential service providers could not be compelled to spend money to obtain tests, arrangements would be required at borders to have free testing facilities. Pangam candidly stated that it was not feasible to have testing centres at borders for antigen tests; at the same time, essential services and workforce were fundamental to the fabric of Goa..He informed the Court that a large percentage of the workforce at various institutions and organisations, including those pertaining to medical services, came from neighbouring states. Many Goans, he informed, travel out for work frequently for business reasons. It would not be practicable to expect such people to keep conducting COVID-19 tests, he stated.Pangam also brought up the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guideline which recommended to not test healthy individuals undertaking inter-state domestic travel to reduce loads on laboratories..He also submitted that this condition would further stretch the testing facilities across the country, which were already battling to meet the expected testing targets. "The entire workforce of the State of Goa is employed in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Implementing any protocol at this stage with respect to the essential service suppliers and the inter-state workforce will exhaust the already stretched out administrative machinery," the AG stated. .The State's application was filed in the petition filed by Armando Gonsalves and Shruti Chaturvedi, which made various prayers connected with COVID-19 management in the State.Advocate Akash Rebello, appearing for the petitioners, opposed the application expressing that there were several states which had imposed similar restrictions during the pandemic, and that it was inconceivable why Goa was opposing such restrictions despite having a high positivity rate..He further submitted that the government had already made exceptions to medical emergencies, essential supplies, etc in its previous orders. All non-essential travel could always be curtailed.Rebello argued that measures such as issuance of passes for providers of essential services or requiring bi-weekly testing at the point of employment as was available in Maharashtra could be options available to the Goa government too..He relied upon speeches made in the legislative assembly to argue that the State's stand seeking modification of the order was akin to abdicating duties on colourable grounds to promote the "tourism sector"..The Bench of Justices MS Sonak and MS Jawalkar, however, refused to accept this submission, opining that the legislative assembly must have freedom to discuss the pros and cons of any policy. The Bench also noted that it did not want to bring in such issues while discussing a petition for public interest..After briefly hearing both parties, the Court dismissed the application and granted liberty to the State government to submit a proper protocol to manage the workforce coming into Goa on a regular basis from other States. The petitioners were represented by Rebello along with Advocates Rui Gomes Pereira and Varun Bhandanker.[Read order here]