Justice D.Y. Chandrachud of the Supreme Court made a sarcastic observation on the punitive actions being taken against people complaining of lack of facilities during the Covid-19 pandemic in Uttar Pradesh.
In court on Monday, while hearing a suo motu matter related to the Covid 19 situation in the country, Justice Chandrachud quipped enquiring if a sedition case had been lodged against the channel which showed a dead body being dropped into the river from a bridge in Uttar Pradesh.
This seems to be pointing a finger to recent incidents where an FIR had been lodged against one person for complaining on social media that there were no medical facilities available in his area. The issue related to the dignified disposal of bodies of the Covid dead raised after Amicus Curiae Meenakshi Arora submitted, “We have seen of late there is no dignity in death. There are many crematoriums which are not working across the country.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had countered: “There is a suo motu case regarding dignified handling of the dead.” Amicus Arora said: “That may be so, the poor are unable to dispose of the dead. Why cannot the state give a ritual semblance to the disposal of the dead?”
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Justice L. Nageswara Rao said: “Yesterday we saw that dead bodies were thrown into the river.”
At this, Justice Chandrachud remarked: “A news report yesterday showed that dead bodies were being thrown into the river. I don’t know if a sedition case has been filed against the news channel yet or not.”
Source ILNS