Supreme Court has issued a notice and sought centre’s reply over a PIL seeking ban on the use, installation, production and advertisement of the disinfectant tunnels devised to curb the spread of COVID-19.
A three-judge bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and M R Shah has issued a notice to the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to file their reply to the Public Interest Litigation.
“Issue notice to respondent Nos. 1 to 3. Counsel for the petitioner may serve a copy of the petition in the office of the Solicitor General, who may obtain instructions. List the matter after two weeks,” stated the bench.
A Public Interest Litigation was filed by a law student Gursimran Singh Narula in Supreme Court seeking ban on the usage, installation, production, advertisement of disinfection tunnels involving spraying or fumigation of organic disinfectants devised to disinfect human beings to keep a check on the coronavirus spread.
“However, in the guise of preventing COVID-19 many sanitisation and disinfection devices have emerged which wrongfully claim to be effective in preventing the spread of this virus. These include disinfection tunnels involving spraying and fumigation of disinfectants and disinfection tunnels exposing human beings to ultraviolet rays with a belief of disinfecting them,” said the plea.
The plea also states that world health watchdog WHO has also warned their ineffectiveness and negative after-effects. The petitioner has submitted that along with WHO, other medical experts have also issued warnings about serious physical and psychological consequences on human beings in case of unchecked and misinformed usage.
The plea mentioned, “The petitioner has approached the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare twice regarding this issue seeking binding guidelines and regulation of these tunnels.”
“Consequently, on April 18, 2020 an advisory was issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare which also fell short in checking the unscrupulous use of these tunnels on human beings,” added the petitioner in his plea.
