Maharashtra pioneer in tackling COVID crisis: Bombay High Court

The State of Maharashtra was “one of the pioneers” in tackling the COVID-19 crisis, the Bombay High Court observed on Monday while disposing of petitions raising grievances about management of COVID-19 treatment and vaccination in Maharashtra..A Bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and MS Karnik noted that most of the reliefs sought by the petitioners have already been granted and the State government has acted upon all orders..The Court while acknowledging the efforts put in by the State government, also noted that several High Courts across the country have not yet opened up for physical hearings. On the contrary, Courts across the State of Maharashtra opened up for physical hearings from the month of October 2021, the Bench observed."We have no hesitation to say that Maharashtra was one of the pioneers in tackling COVID-19. We are told that several courts in some States have still not been opened for physical hearings; our collective efforts have succeeded, but we don't want a repeat,” the Bench said..Some of the petitioners sought leave of the Court to withdraw their petitions submitting that most of their prayers had been granted. They prayed that the Central and State governments and civic authorities be directed to continue acting in furtherance of the interim orders passed in the pleas..The Bench left it to the authorities to decide whether to act in furtherance of the interim orders passed on the petitions, taking into account prevailing circumstances..The Court also emphasised that both the Centre and the State are expected to continue providing COVID vaccination and medical aid for senior citizens and those with disabilities.The Bench also cautioned against letting the guard down reminding how the second wave of COVID had wrecked havoc in April this year. ”We did not know anything about COVID in 2020. But in April 2021, we did, and yet we let our guard down and witnessed a difficult time," it remarked..The High Court expressed hope that the next year would not see a repeat of what happened in April 2021.“Let us forget about the dark days, but we must not let out guard down. We hope the new year brings new beginnings and we never see a repeat of April 2021," the Bench said.