Covid-19: Politicians find difficult to accept failure; not in veins, says HC

Politicians and bureaucrats find it very difficult to accept their failure and inability as it is not in their veins the Delhi High Court Wednesday said while expressing concerns over the condition of subordinate judiciarys judicial officers who are at risk of contracting Covid19 owing to the nature of dutiesThe high court said three judicial officers have already died after contracting the virus in the national capital and it was of the prima facie view that they should be treated akin to frontline workers like armed forces and police forces personnel and asked the government to consider itldquoIn Supreme Court and High Court we hold constitutional positions Our protocols are different but that is not the case of subordinate judiciary The judicial officers exposure is different and you should take steps for good reasons You examine it and then deciderdquo a bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh saidThe bench was not impressed with the submissions of the Delhi Government that high court had earlier passed an order by which the Delhi district judges were to coordinate with district magistrates to address the medical concerns of judicial officers and their families during the Covid19 pandemic and nodal officers were appointed in each districtThe bench said ldquolet us not get into this That has not delivered They are here because it didnt bring about any satisfactory results It is very difficult for bureaucracy and political leaders to accept their failure or inability They will never accept their failure This is not in their veinsrdquoIt said the system has to be put in place now and cant wait for the crisis to arise and have to be prepared for the worst as nobody knows how the situation would be in futureThe bench observed that judicial officers are working and exposing them to the risk the way armed forces and police forces are doingldquoWe have lost three judicial officers already Look at the number of judicial officers and their families being infected its staggering Because of the nature of their job they have to expose themselves so we need to protect them You dont expect a judge to discharge his duty when his son daughter wife or any other family member is seriously ill Take steps on your own you government dont need to wait for orders on thisrdquo it saidThe court noted the submissions of senior advocate Rahul Mehra representing Delhi government that the state shall consider whether judicial officers rendering services to keep the wheels of justice moving and are exposed to the risk of Covid19 on account of nature of duties can be declared as ldquofrontline workersrdquoThe counsel also said that Delhi Judicial Services Association which has filed an application raising certain issues including that facilities on ground are an eyewash may submit the representation to the Delhi Chief Secretary who shall consider it and also convene a virtual meeting with the members of the associationTaking the statement of Mehra on record the court said ldquoLet the Delhi government address these issues and a status report be filed List it on May 27rdquoThe application by the association was filed in a pending petition by a group of lawyers including Shobha Gupta and Rajesh Sachdeva seeking a coordination mechanism for judicial officers as they were unable to get Covid19 medical treatment and beds in hospitalsSenior advocate Dayan Krishnan representing the association said the district nodal officers facility is not working in case of emergency and there is a need for a centralised nodal officer of Delhi governmentHe also said there is a need to attach Covid care facilities to hospitals and added that as of now 852 judicial officers and staff have been infected with the virusDelhi government standing counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi submitted the high court had earlier passed an order by which the Delhi district judges were to coordinate with district magistrates to address the medical concerns of judicial officers and their families during the Covid19 pandemic and nodal officers were appointed in each districtDuring the hearing Mehra conceded that its a very serious issue raised in the plea and the Covid care centres are equal to home isolation beds and not for moderate to severe patients and stressed on the need for vaccinationldquoUntil and unless everyone is safe none is saferdquo he said adding that the next wave could be coming from Singapore or some other countryAlso Read Singapore objects to Arvind Kejriwals Covid19 variant remark Centre says CM does not speak for IndiaTo this the bench said there is no wave from Singapore and ldquowe dont need any other country we have our own variantsrdquoMehra replied the second variant is from India onlyHe said there is a need to declare officers of the courts as frontline persons and it is important to protect and save the members of the institution and vaccination process of judicial officers their families and staff should be prioritizedThe court also said like Delhi governments officials judicial officers can also be provided with proper facilities as they are also performing an important dutyThe petition said ldquothe petitioners are specifically concerned about the health and life of the judicial officers in Delhi The judicial officers in Delhi in order to maintain law and order and ensure speedy and effective delivery of justice resumed physical hearings in Courts It is pertinent to mentioned that due to nature of work in courts Covid19 protocol is not being followed in courts and judicial officers are exposed immenselyrdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever