English
Why reveal names of COVID-19 patients? It involves privacy: High Court
Published
6 months agoon
By
Editor
A division bench of Justices A A Sayed and M S Karnik made the observation while hearing a petition filed by two persons seeking disclosure of names of coronavirus patients to enable contact tracing and save others from getting infected.
The PIL has been filed by a law student, Vaishnavi Gholave, and a farmer from Solapur, Mahesh Gadekar.
The PIL said when the fundamental right to life and right to lead a healthy life clash with the fundamental right to privacy, then the court needs to see which of these rights would advance public morality and interest.
“How far can one go in revealing the identity of the person who has tested positive (for COVID-19)? Privacy rights are involved.”
“The authorities declare a particular place or building as a containment zone when someone tests positive so that people are made aware, Justice Sayed said.
Isn’t this enough? Why do you want to know who is the person who has tested positive? the bench queried.
The HC also sought the Maharashtra government’s response to the petition.
Advocate Aditya Thakkar, appearing for the Union government, submitted that as per the guidelines issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the names of COVID-19 positive persons cannot be declared so as to avoid their stigmatisation.
The petitioners’ lawyer, Vinod Sangvikar, however, argued that the ICMR guidelines extended only to those who have died due to COVID-19.
The bench posted the petition for further hearing after two weeks and directed the Maharashtra government to respond to the plea.
if(geolocation && geolocation != 5 && (typeof skip == 'undefined' || typeof skip.fbevents == 'undefined')) !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function()n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments); if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)(window, document,'script', 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', '338698809636220'); fbq('track', 'PageView');
Source :economictimes.indiatimes.com
You may like
Latest News
- From ED to TEDx- a walk-through of stories talking about Being One this Dec 2020!
- Residents blame Ludhiana MC for ignoring fogging
- Mumbai: Two missing after a fishing boat carrying 13 fishermen capsizes
- Theatre doyen Ebrahim Alkazi who trained Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri dies at 94
- Won’t spare any politician or public servant found complicit in hooch tragedy: Punjab CM
- Nitish Kumar recommends CBI probe in Sushant case, sets up a new row
- Covid-19: Indigenous Australian group blocks Uluru access route over pandemic fears
- Covid-19 will disappear with blessings of Lord Ram, says Shiv Sena ahead of ‘bhoomi pujan’ ceremony
- Kolkata airport operations will be suspended for 7 days in August due to Bengal lockdown
- Coronavirus lockdown study reports surge in health anxieties
- HC adjourns virtual hearings after heavy rainfall in Mumbai, hearings postponed to Wednesday
- Congress again reaches out to rebel Rajasthan MLAs, lists its only condition
- Kareena Kapoor, Kajol, Alia Bhatt, Tara Sutaria dress to impress for Rakhi 2020
- Early indicators of economic activity in July show improvement over June: Nomura
- Tripura CM in home quarantine after two family members test Covid positive