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“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 while hearing an anticipatory bail matter.
Justice Siddharth allowed the anticipatory bail application filed by one Prateek Jain, accused of cheating and fraud, while holding that the apprehension of death on account of contracting Covid-19 is a valid ground for bail.
Further, the court noted the unpreparedness of the state and how the virus has now spread to the remote villages. It said, “The State Government is having a tough time controlling the spread of the novel coronavirus in urban areas and it would be very difficult to conduct tests, detect and treat the village population found suffering from novel corona virus”, adding that, “The State lacks preparation and resources for the same at present.”
The Single-judge Bench observed that on account of the recent panchayat elections in the state, a large number of FIRs have been lodged in the villages. Even otherwise, the crime rate in villages is high.
“Keeping in view the overall situation of the villages after the Panchayat elections, a large number of accused persons may be infected and their infection may not have been detected,” Justice Siddharth reportedly said.
While granting him anticipatory bail, the court also observed that the established parameters for grant of anticipatory bail holds no value over the unprecedented crisis the nation is facing. “…the nature and gravity of accusation, the criminal antecedent of the applicant, the possibility of fleeing from justice and whether accusation has been made for injuring and humiliating the applicant by getting him arrested have now lost significance on account of present situation of the country and the State on account of spread of second wave of novel corona virus”, read the order.
The court also went a step ahead and said that not considering an applicant’s apprehension of being infected with Covid-19 before and after his arrest and the possibility of his spreading the same while coming into contact with the police, Court and jail personnels, would be against the requirement of Article 14 of the Constitution of India.
The elections have cost many lives in Uttar Pradesh. In related news, taking strong note of reports about the deaths of teachers, shiksha mitras and others due to Covid-19 –all 135 government employees –who were posted for poll duty during panchayat polls in Uttar Pradesh, the Allahabad high court had recently pulled up the state election commission (SEC) for clarification on the same. “It appears that neither the police, nor the Election Commission did anything to save the people on election duty from getting infected by this deadly virus,” the court observed.
The order may be read here:
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