- Allahabad HC judge comments
- 135 persons on Panchayat election duty die of Covid in UP
“The Election Commission, the Higher Courts and the Government failed to fathom the disastrous consequences of permitting the elections in few States and the Panchayat elections in the State of Uttar Pradesh,” said the Allahabad High Court on Monday. A Single Bench of Justice Siddhartha has observed that due to such circumstances the Covid-19 cases in UP is spreading to the villages also this time. The judge confined himself to Uttar Pradesh. Even in Telangana, municipal elections were held after Covid deaths have been in hundreds in the State and thousands in the country. The campaign in Nagarjuna Sagar by-election was also a super spreader.
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In Uttar Pradesh especially there was a death of 135 polling officers. It is something baffling and inexcusable. It was left to the High Court to pull up the government. The deaths occurred because the social distancing norms have not been followed. Allahabad HC had issued a show-cause notice to the State Election Commission. The court had admonished the State government also for being complacent. It remarked that the State lacked preparation and resources. The government which is struggling to control the spread of corona virus in urban area would find it extremely difficult in tackling it in rural areas where the virus has been spreading since Panchayat elections. The Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath maintained silence on the comments of the HC.
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The judge observed that the crime rate in villages of UP is very high. These observation were made while dealing with a writ petition filed by one Prateek Jain who prayed for a pre-arrest as he apprehended murder if he is arrested by the police. The judge allowed the petition.
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