The Supreme Court on Thursday, 3 December stayed Gujarat High Court’s order that directed the state’s government to impose non-medical community service at COVID-19 care centres for violators of face mask norms, Live Law reported.
According to ANI, the high court had also directed the state government to issue a notification in this regard.
While announcing the order ,the Supreme Court said that the Gujarat HC direction was “disproportionate and may lead to health problems”.
The apex court has directed the Gujarat government to ensure that the guidelines issued by the Central government and the Gujarat High Court for wearing masks should be implemented by the state police.
The petition against the Gujarat High Court’s order was heard by a Bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and MR Shah.
The petition was mentioned by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who submitted: “Harm of not wearing masks is much less than sending a person to a COVID centre. The problem has to be addressed on a war footing", reported Live Law.
SG Mehta informed the SC that the fine imposed in Gujarat for not wearing the mask was Rs 1,000 and police officials were fining non-compliant persons.
(With inputs from Livelaw)
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