SC defers Balwant Singh Rajoana – 1995 killer of Punjab CM Beant Singh – plea for release
Senior advocate Rohatgi, appearing for Rajoana, urged the bench to grant temporary release to Rajoana.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to issue directions to states by tomorrow for timely payment of salaries and providing necessary quarantine facilities to doctors and healthcare workers engaged in treating Covid-19 patients even as the government hinted at making nonpayment of salary a criminal offence under the Disaster Management Act.
The apex court asked the Centre to issue necessary directions to states and Union Territories, and sought a compliance report in four weeks.
“Do not take a cosmetic artificial approach,” the top court told the government as it noted that nonadherence to the Centre’s direction by states will be treated as an offence under the Disaster Management Act and sections of the Indian Penal Code. Chief Secretaries must ensure doctors are paid salaries, the court said, warning that any violation will attract punishment.
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The Centre’s counsel agreed to undertake to issue an order to the states and Union Territories to ensure that timely salaries are paid to the doctors and healthcare workers. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, stated before a bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M.R. Shah that the Centre is willing to issue a direction, under Section 10 of the Disaster Management Act, to make non-payment of salary a criminal offence.
The response from the Centre came on a petition filed by Dr Arushi Jain on quarantine facilities for medical professionals involved in the treatment of Covid19 patients. Counsel for the petitioner argued that salaries were not being paid regularly to healthcare workers involved in Covid-19 treatment, and doctors treating Covid-19 patients were not quarantined unless they were under high-risk category.
The Centre also agreed to modify its 15 May order, and doctors coming in touch with Covid-19 patients will have a quarantine period of one week only, after which they will be checked whether to extend this period.
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