Bombay HC asks Maharashtra govt why vaccinated persons cannot travel by local trains
The Bombay High Court asked the Maharashtra government on Monday why people who had received both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine could not be permitted to travel by local trains in Mumbai. It also asked the government to work on a comprehensive plan for the same so that the burden on other modes of transport can be reduced.
What was even the purpose of taking both doses of the vaccine if citizens were expected to stay inside their homes even after taking the anti-COVID-19 jabs, a bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni asked.
The bench was responding to a submission made by Maharashtra Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni that the state disaster management authority was “reluctant” to permit all lawyers, judicial clerks and court staff to resume local train travel.
Currently, only frontline health workers and government staff are permitted to use local trains, which are considered as the lifeline of Mumbai.
The HC was hearing a bunch of public interest litigations filed by lawyers and private persons through senior counsel Milind Sathe, advocates Shyam Dewani and Alankar Kirpekar, among others, seeking that lawyers be permitted to travel by local trains and Metro rail to commute to courts and their offices