The Supreme Court on Friday criticised the District Magistrate of Gautam Buddha Nagar Suhas LY for not strictly following the Centre’s guidelines on quarantine rules during the coronavirus lockdown, Bar and Bench reported. Noida falls in Gautam Buddha Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh. The court was hearing a plea regarding travel restrictions being eased between Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Justices Ashok Bhushan, SK Kaul and MR Shah, who were hearing the matter, asked the Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government to file a report. The next hearing is on June 17, The Print reported.

On Thursday, Suhas LY wrote an open letter to Noida residents warning them about the challenges lying ahead. He also answered some “frequently asked questions”. To a question on whether home isolation for Covid-19 positive asymptomatic patients was allowed, he said the Uttar Pradesh guidelines did not allow home isolation for Covid-19 positive patients.

Advocate Garima Prashad, representing the Uttar Pradesh government, said that though there were home quarantine rules in Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad were following only institutional quarantine.

According to the Centre’s guidelines, asymptomatic coronavirus patients are allowed to self-quarantine at home. “You need to find out information if Noida [under Gautam Buddha Nagar district] district magistrate has issued orders contrary to national guidelines regarding home or institutional quarantine,” Justice Ashok Bhushan said. “After 15 days there will be chaos.”

Bhushan said that the Noida district magistrate had issued instructions that were contrary to the Uttar Pradesh government’s guidelines. “Though essential services are allowed but DM [district magistrate] orders are not in conformity with the guidelines issued by state of UP,” he said. “He is bound to follow national and state guidelines.”

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that the chief secretaries of Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, and the Union Home Secretary had a meeting on June 9. It was decided that there will be no restriction of travel on the Delhi-Haryana route. However, movement along the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border would still need to have firm restrictions. On June 4, the top court had asked all three state governments to decide on allowing inter-state transport in the National Capital Region during the nationwide lockdown.

The Uttar Pradesh government told the court that it will allow only essential services to and from the national Capital, as the source of infection in 45% of coronavirus cases in Noida and Ghaziabad was traced back to Delhi.

Garima Prashad said that considering its health parameters, Uttar Pradesh has restricted vehicular movement from Delhi. “As of now we have allowed movement of paramedical and medical…traffic of goods, advocates and media…we are giving out emergency e-passes.”

Comparing the number of cases in the Capital and its bordering Uttar Pradesh districts, Prashad said Delhi had a population of two crore and there were over 50 lakh people in Noida and Ghaziabad, but Delhi alone had over 33,000 coronavirus cases and 1,000 deaths, while Noida and Ghaziabad together had 1,000 cases and 40 deaths.

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