Citing that the current situation in Mumbai did not foretell the arrival of a Covid-19 third wave, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday asked the Maharashtra government why it wasn't permitting members of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) standing committee to attend meetings physically. The bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M S Karnik was hearing a public interest litigation filed by some standing committee members, seeking that they be permitted to physically attend the civic body's meeting scheduled during the day.
While permitting the petitioners to attend the meeting, the bench noted that schools, colleges, offices, malls etc., in the city have started functioning like in the pre-pandemic days. The petitioners had claimed that they had witnessed several technical glitches during the last standing committee meeting, which was held virtually, and sought the court's direction to the BMC to hold all future meetings physically.
Senior counsel Anil Sakhre, who appeared for the civic body, however, told the court that only the standing committee chairperson and members of the opposition parties were permitted to attend the day's meeting physically.
The remaining of the members were supposed to attend it virtually, Sakhre said. The High Court, however, said it found merit in the PIL and thought it fit to allow the prayer made by the petitioners.
"The prevailing situation in Mumbai does not point to any imminent third wave of the pandemic. Schools and colleges have re-opened, and children are attending schools and colleges physically," the court said. All courts in Maharashtra were functioning as in the pre-pandemic days, while markets, malls, restaurants, etc. have reopened and vehicular traffic on the road was also substantial, it said, adding that offices were also functioning as if Covid-19 was a thing of the past. "In such a situation, it defies logic as to why only a few of the standing committee members, including its chairman, would be permitted to attend the meeting physically and the rest required to attend through the virtual platform," it said.
The High Court directed the state government to take a decision within the next five days on whether the future standing committee meetings of the BMC will be held physically. "We wish the government in the appropriate department to take an appropriate decision as early as possible, but not later than five days next, as to why physical meetings shall not be permitted to be conducted by the municipal corporation," the court said.
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