Supreme Court Stays Telangana High Court Contempt Notice On Public Health Director Over Corona Testing

NEW DELHI: In a relief for the Telangana Government over the Coronavirus testing in the State, the Supreme Court stayed the Contempt of Court Notice to Public Health Director Dr G Srinivas Rao issued by the Telangana High Court on Wednesday.

A bench consisting of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and MR Shala on Wednesday heard a petition filed by the Telangana government challenging the High Court order. Senior advocate NK Kaul who was representing on behalf of the Telangana government, said  that the State was conducting all the tests required for the combating the Coronovirus. He also explained that it was difficult to conduct 50,000 tests a day.

The senior counsel later explained that the State government had not received any complaint regarding the orders issued by the High Court on November 19, 2020, and that the High Court had only complained about suo moto contempt of court. The apex court bench issued notices to the respondents to file counter-petitions within six weeks and said that it was imposing a stay on the High Court suo moto orders regarding the contempt case.

The Telangana High Court on November 27  issued Contempt Notices against Dr. G. Srinivas Rao, Director, Public Health, and Family Welfare, for wilful disobedience, despite the High Court's specific orders over not increasing Covid-19 tests. The division bench, comprising Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice Bollam Vijaysen Reddy, was dealing with a batch of 20 public interest litigations (PILs) related to various issues involving the frequency of coronavirus tests and treatment in the state of Telangana.

Also Read:Telangana High Court Issues Contempt Notice Against Health Dept For Not Increasing COVID-19 Tests