Kolkata : Calcutta High Court On Tuesday asked the state government to allow only those pilgrims who have been fully vaccinated and tested negative in the RT-PCR test, to go to Sagar Island for the annual pilgrimage and replace the leader in compliance with its order. Reconstituted the panel constituted to monitor Suvendu Adhikari, a retired High Court judge along with the opposition Suvendu Adhikari and a representative of the State Human Rights Commission.
In a fresh order, a bench of Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava and Justice Kesang Doma Bhutia said retired high court judge Samasti Chatterjee will be the chairman of the new committee, which will have member secretary, West Bengal Legal Rights Authority, as its other members.
The bench said the chief secretary would be personally responsible for ensuring compliance of all his directions. Additionally, the Health Secretary will be responsible for monitoring the vaccination compliance of the pilgrims.
The amended court order followed five petitions filed before a bench questioning the composition of the three-member monitoring panel with political and state government representatives and complaints that the state was not complying with the directions issued by the court.
In its January 7 order, the HC had asked the government to strictly implement its own notification, in addition to setting up a monitoring committee, which allows any social, religious or cultural gathering of more than 50 persons at a time. Prohibits gathering.
If the order is not implemented, the panel can bar the entry
The two-member monitoring panel has been empowered to recommend a ban on entry into the Sagar Islands if it finds any lacunae in the implementation of the court’s directions or finds that crowds at the fair are spreading Covid.
On Tuesday, the high court also reiterated its earlier order, asking the state to issue a notification under section 3 of the Gangasagar Mela Act, 1976, declaring the entire Sagar Island as a notified area within 24 hours. went. The state government had notified only the fair ground.
While several thousand pilgrims are already in Gangasagar, thousands more are converging in Kolkata and making their way to the annual pilgrimage site. The DM of South 24 Parganas formally inaugurated the Gangasagar Mela on Monday.
In a fresh order, a bench of Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava and Justice Kesang Doma Bhutia said retired high court judge Samasti Chatterjee will be the chairman of the new committee, which will have member secretary, West Bengal Legal Rights Authority, as its other members.
The bench said the chief secretary would be personally responsible for ensuring compliance of all his directions. Additionally, the Health Secretary will be responsible for monitoring the vaccination compliance of the pilgrims.
The amended court order followed five petitions filed before a bench questioning the composition of the three-member monitoring panel with political and state government representatives and complaints that the state was not complying with the directions issued by the court.
In its January 7 order, the HC had asked the government to strictly implement its own notification, in addition to setting up a monitoring committee, which allows any social, religious or cultural gathering of more than 50 persons at a time. Prohibits gathering.
If the order is not implemented, the panel can bar the entry
The two-member monitoring panel has been empowered to recommend a ban on entry into the Sagar Islands if it finds any lacunae in the implementation of the court’s directions or finds that crowds at the fair are spreading Covid.
On Tuesday, the high court also reiterated its earlier order, asking the state to issue a notification under section 3 of the Gangasagar Mela Act, 1976, declaring the entire Sagar Island as a notified area within 24 hours. went. The state government had notified only the fair ground.
While several thousand pilgrims are already in Gangasagar, thousands more are converging in Kolkata and making their way to the annual pilgrimage site. The DM of South 24 Parganas formally inaugurated the Gangasagar Mela on Monday.
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