HC tells J&K, Ladakh administration to punish those hiding travel history

Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 24

Taking a serious note of reports that some people were concealing their foreign travelling history amid spread of Covid, the J&K High Court on Tuesday asked authorities of J&K and Ladakh UTs to strictly punish violators of the norms in accordance with the law.

A divisional bench (DB) of the high court, comprising Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Sindhu Sharma, directed authorities of both the UTs to enforce their notifications, instructions and orders regarding all disclosures, including the travel history, quarantining and isolation, stringently. UT authorities shall take strict measures to ensure that all requirements are strictly enforced, the Bench said.

It further said judicial notice could be taken of the several complaints being made in the electronic and the print media with regards to persons concealing their foreign travel history to escape the mandatory quarantine.

“Some of such persons have been found to be infected and huge public resources have been expended on tracking, not only these persons, but their several contacts during the period up to their detection”, the Court observed and directed authorities to enforce their orders stringently. All authorities of the UTs shall take strict measures to ensure that all requirements are strictly enforced.

Box —- Two professors of SMVDU hide travel history

Amid the worldwide campaign against the deadly Coronavisus, two professors of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU) were forcibly taken into quarantine after they concealed their travel history. “Two professors of SMVDU were taken to a quarantine centre after they hid their travel history,” Deputy Commissioner, Reasi, Indu Chib told The Tribune.

After getting information about the duo, who were putting up at their official residences without informing the authorities concerned about their visit abroad, the DC herself visited the campus and directed both the professors to go for quarantine.

Sources said higher-ups of the university were very much aware of the travel history of the professors but they also concealed the same.