A notice was issued on Friday by the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on a petition seeking directions to the Uttar Pradesh Government to make arrangements for the meeting of inmates with their deponents, family members, friends, and lawyers while ensuring the guidelines of social distancing and sanitization.
The Bench comprising of Justices Manish Mathur and Anil Kumar has issued a notice to the government asking them to file a counter affidavit within ten days. The said PIL was filed by Shivam Pandey through advocate Pranjal Krishna, also praying for a direction to the government to devise a proper mechanism to ensure social distancing and sanitization norms, along-with other safety measures, to prevent the spread of Coronavirus in the prisons.
The petition further contended that these measures were essential to uphold the Fundamental Rights of the inmates, as guaranteed under the Constitution of India. The said hearing took place through video conferencing and the advocates on behalf of the government Anand Shikha and SK Singh has raised an issue regarding the maintainability of the PIL.
The court keeping in mind the said contentions has given them the liberty to raise such objections in the counter affidavit, as directed to be filed within 10 days. It was also ordered by the court that after receiving a copy of the counter affidavit, the petitioner would be obliged to file a rejoinder affidavit within three days. The scheduled matter is listed for hearing on 15th June.
