Madras HC contends Election Commission Singularly Responsible For COVID Second Wave; Officers Should Probably Be Booked For Murder

What is the case

• The HC chastised the ECI for authorizing political demonstrations during the pandemic and for failing to enforce COVID protocols during election campaigns.
• The Election Commission of India was slammed by the Madras High Court on Monday for allowing political rallies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• "Your institution is singularly responsible for the second wave of COVID-19," a clearly agitated Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee told the Election Commission's counsel.
• The Chief Justice went so far as to state, "Your officers should actually be booked on murder charges."

• Chief justice’s observation

• Despite court orders, the Commission had failed to follow COVID norms regarding the use of facemasks, sanitisers, and maintaining social distance during election campaigning, according to the Chief Justice.
• "Did you happen to be on another world when the election rallies took place?" the Chief Justice inquired of the ECI counsel.
• The Court has warned that if the ECI does not put in place a blueprint of a strategy to ensure that the COVID 19 protocol is followed on the counting day, the counting will be halted.
• "The importance of public health is paramount, and it is disheartening that constitutional authorities must be reminded of this. Only by surviving will a person be able to enjoy the freedom that a democratic republic guarantees ", added the Chief Justice.
• "Now is a time of survival and security. Anything that follows after that ", said the Chief Justice
• The bench, which also included Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, ordered the Election Commission of India and the Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer to meet with the Health Secretary and devise a strategy to implement the COVID-19 protocol on the day of the counting.

Present situation

• With only three more rounds of voting left in Bengal's record eight-phase election and all other states have voted, the Election Commission halted roadshows and rallies and restricted public meetings to 500 people last Thursday.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared shortly before the election body's order that he was cancelling his campaign visit to Bengal the next day due to a Covid meeting. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee questioned why the Election Commission had waited until the Prime Minister's decision to enforce Covid campaigning restrictions.

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