On Thursday, the Union Health Ministry distanced itself from police personnel in Indian cities who were going full throttle, prosecuting people for not wearing a mask even when alone in a car, jogging or cycling.
Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said at a press conference in response to a question that there was no directive from the Health Ministry that people should wear masks when driving a car unaccompanied.
Bhushan said that the Health Ministry has also not ordered people who ride bicycles, exercise and jog alone to wear a mask. But he noted that people often do these activities in groups of two or more. In such cases, Bhushan said, people must wear a mask.
Also read: Car driver arrested for not wearing face mask in Chandigarh
The effort of the top official of the Ministry of Health to distance himself from the police action comes in the context of reports from several cities that police personnel, charged with enforcing the mask law to ensure that the virus that causes the coronavirus is not spread, it was also penalizing people who traveled alone. . Many have questioned the logic of the rule.
I still need to wear a mask
It is unclear whether police will stop prosecuting solo motorists without a mask. Because it was not the Ministry of Health, but the order of the Ministry of the Interior of the Union that forced people to wear a mask when they went out.
According to the National Directive of the Ministry of the Interior for the Management of Covid-19, “The use of a face cover is mandatory in public places; in the workplace; and during transport ”. This all-encompassing directive allows police to prosecute people without masks, even if they are alone in a car with the windows closed. It doesn’t matter that you can’t get Covid-19 yourself.
A car on the road falls within the definition of a public place. Otherwise, people would not be prosecuted for drinking in cars parked near liquor stores. In 2019, the Supreme Court also ruled that a car on a public road can be treated as a public place.
On social media, the move to prosecute motorists is seen as a clumsy approach that police personnel across the country were accused of taking during the lockdown. Like when they continued to block interstate freight for weeks despite several requests from the Union Secretary of the Interior, Ajay Bhalla.
In Delhi, the police appeared to have initially taken the position that it was not necessary for motorists traveling alone to wear a mask. But at some point, as reflected in tweets from the Delhi Traffic Police control, the cops changed their position.
Sir, if you drive with a companion it is mandatory to wear a mask or you are alone it is not mandatory.
– Delhi Traffic Police (@dtptraffic) June 29, 2020
Yes sir. The mask is mandatory for all people, even if you drive alone by car.
– Delhi Traffic Police (@dtptraffic) August 21, 2020
It is not clear what led to the change in position between June 21 and August 21. There have been no other statements from a senior Delhi police officer.
There are no figures in the public domain that indicate how much people have paid in fines for driving their vehicle without a mask. In total, the Delhi police have collected a whopping 9.42 million rupees from at least 1.8 lakhs from people in the national capital for not wearing masks in public.
According to the Delhi Police, the penalty for not wearing a mask is a fine of Rs 500 on the spot under a rule approved by the Delhi government under the Delhi Epidemic Diseases Regulations (Covid-19 Management), 2020, approved by the Delhi LG in June.
In Bengaluru, local authorities set up a technical panel to advise whether they should continue to process people without masks in their car. N Manjunatha Prasad, Commissioner of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike, announced the committee on August 26. Prasad has not Tweeted about the outcome of this review.
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