The Telangana High Court today expressed its displeasure at the state government's decision to
curb the entry of ambulances from neighbouring states.
It asked the government if it had considered whether it was humane or not to stop the entry of ambulances transporting critical Covid-19 patients on oxygen support during the pandemic.
The court made these remarks while dealing with a batch of petitions filed on the issue of the containment of the pandemic in the state. The Commissioners of the Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda Police as well as the GHMC Commissioner appeared in court for the hearing.
The state's apex court grilled the government for its call to stop the ambulances at the state's borders. Asking the latter to provide an explanation for the decision, it also asked officials to clarify what gave the government the power to restrict the ambulances in the first place, and charged, "Who gave you the powers to stop ambulances from ferrying patients to hospitals and play with the lives of people in distress amidst the current emergency?"
It also flayed the TRS regime for "failing" to implement the night curfew "properly" in the state, and criticised the lack of action on regulating religious programs in the state.
The court then stated that there seemed to be no real relation between the claims of the government regarding the pandemic and the conditions on the field level. It said that the KCR government had not followed earlier orders on the management of the second wave, and warned that continued failure to obey orders would result in the initiation of contempt of court proceedings against the latter.
Replying to these statements, Advocate General B S Prasad said that the state cabinet would take a decision regarding the management of the second wave.
At this, the AG was told to relay the concerns of the court to the state Cabinet.
Expressing its annoyance at the government on a separate matter, the HC also flayed it for its "sudden decision" to impose a ten-day-long lockdown in Telangana from tomorrow.
It asked, "Why was the state government unable to take a decision on the implementation of a weekend lockdown as instructed earlier, and why did it not take a call on increasing the number of hours of the
night curfew?"
Objecting to the "sudden imposition" of the lockdown, the HC pointed out that the decision would only "add to the woes of the public", and asked what the labourers and workers who wanted to return to their native places were supposed to do since they had been entirely unprepared for the lockdown. It then instructed the government to check the spread of Covid-19 by increasing the public's access to treatment facilities like vaccines and medical oxygen.
The KCR government has been hauled up the Telangana High Court several times in the recent past for its "mishandling" of the pandemic situation in the state.