While asking the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) under which provisions of law it had made masks mandatory and fined people for violations during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bombay High Court has said that it will not interfere if the notification was issued by the civic body “for achieving greater good”.
A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Madhav Jamdar said: “If a notification was issued by the BMC that to contain the pandemic, people have to wear masks and a fine would be imposed for not wearing a mask, then that was for achieving greater good and court will not interfere.”
The HC was hearing two petitions seeking the refund of fines collected by the authorities from people who violated the mask rule and prosecution of then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Besides the refund of the fine amount, the petitioners have also sought a probe against former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for misappropriation of public funds to purchase COVID-19 vaccines and forcing people to get vaccinated.
The HC sought to know from the BMC under which provisions of law masks were made mandatory and fines were imposed.
The court has also asked BMC counsel Anil Sakhare to provide details of section 2 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, under which the government has the power to take special measures and prescribe regulations when there is a threat of a dangerous epidemic disease.
Senior counsel SU Kamdar, appearing for the Maharashtra government, stated that the Supreme Court had recently noted that the vaccination drive undertaken by the Centre cannot be faulted and that the same was right and justified given the ongoing pandemic.
"Hence, there is no question of prosecuting (Uddhav Thackeray) for misappropriation of funds," Kamdar said.
One of the petitions, filed by one Firoze Mithiborwala, through advocate Nilesh Ojha, claimed that the government and BMC's insistence on citizens wearing masks to cover their mouth and nose while out of their homes, and in public places, was "unscientific".
The petitioner urged the court to direct the state and municipal authorities to return the money collected so far from the public as fines for not wearing masks in public places. The HC has kept the petition for bearing after two weeks.
