The pan Indian lockdown imposed by the central governmentwas extended for 19 more days. As India joins a long list of nations wherestrict lockdowns in response to the spread of Corona virus have become the newnormal, there also does exist a list of nations wherein lock-down has not beeneffectively implemented and remains within the status of a mere advisory.Nonetheless, such nations are also bearing the brunt of heavy losses by virtueof unprecedented deaths. In U.S alone the virus claimed more than 26,000 humanlives, the highest so far as compared to any other nation. The reasons for thereluctance of U.S in imposing a stricter and harsh lockdown stemmed out ofeconomic concerns. Already being termed as “Pandemic Paradox”, it requiresnations to choose between health of citizens and health of national economywith an equal risk of losing both in future, despite choosing one.
Keeping in view the financial concerns of a developingnation and with an aim to ensure the continuance of supply chain throughout thecountry, the lockdown announced on 23rd of March, 2020 by the Ministry of HomeAffairs, Government of India came with certain exceptions. The commercialactivities were also exempted in order to ensure that the shops which includeddealing with food, groceries, fruits and vegetables, diary and milk booths,meat and fish, animal fodder could remain open and available for humanconsumption. In line with afore-mentioned directions, the districtadministration of Srinagar had already issued an order on 22nd of March, 2020,which directed a complete shutdown of all establishments within the territoriesof Srinagar District and granted exceptions to all such establishments whichdealt with the supply of essential commodities as elaborated above. Theexceptions were needed for the proper functioning of human society as Srinagarbeing the most urbanized area in Kashmir division lacks space for cattlerearing and organic harvesting. The organic consumables for the residents ofSrinagar flow in from the adjacent rural areas and therefore, it becameimperative that the movement within the city should not be halted and thereforethe transportation was also exempted.
The core-concept was to keep the movement of non-essentialnature at bay or in worst cases curtailed, which the district administration ofSrinagar failed to understand. In a total volte-face, the order issued on 22ndof March, 2020 was “partially modified” through another dated 23rd of March,2020 as within a single day, the security agencies and executive magistratesprovided vital feedback to the administration whereby the exemption provided tomovement of essential services including the supply of groceries, fresh fruitsand vegetables was withdrawn. As administrations in each district swung intoaction, a trial of incidents began to flood the media wherein “sealing ofshops” was done under the provisions of Section 144 of CrPC by the authorities.Notwithstanding the official intentions or the administrative weight behind thesealing of shops, the move complicated and aggravated the problem of shortageand hoarding of essential commodities which is a common feature in such crisis.The shopkeepers converted the otherwise exempted act of opening shops dealingwith essential commodities into an act of bravado and thereby, over-pricing.
As the number of positive cases began to swell, the numberof sealed shops also began to increase and the edible commodities kept withinthese shops (which are of sizeable quantity) were effectively made unavailableto the general masses further deepening the crisis. Absence of redressalmechanism has added to the miseries of affected shop keepers; as the courtsremain closed an ever increasing quantity of litigants in the shape of theseshopkeepers are facing tough time to avail legal remedies to de-seal theircommercial establishments, a constitutional right otherwise guaranteed to them.
Even though various news-reports indicate that theauthorities wielded the powers conferred under Section 144 of CrPC to seal thecommercial premises during crisis, a cursory look to the language of sectionand judgments of various courts reveal that the action of sealing premisesunder the garb of Section144 is illegal as it snatches away the freedom of tradeand commerce enshrined under the Constitution of India.
The measures taken by administration to contain movement indeclared Red Zones which included the establishment of roadblocks ended up inthe construction of steel-concrete barricades erected after digging the alreadydilapidated roads. In comparison to other states, where temporary barricadeswere erected with a hope of removing them in near future, the administrationhere clearly sent contrary signals which drew the ire of public. The use of ICT(Information Communication Technology), which almost features in everygovernment initiatives since the advent of Digital India program, has beenreduced to the stature of Arogya Setu, an app which after acquiring data basedon the unverified user input indicates the likelihood of being infected withCovid-19. In comparison, South Korea after collecting reliable data fromvarious sources (data-mining) created “Virtual Red Zones” whereby a citizenreceives notification on smart phone from authorities in case the user hascrossed over into an actual “Red Zone”. In case the person persists into thejourney, the same smart phone acts as an indicator of a suspect case and in notime testing follows. No wonder that South Korea has been among the fewcountries which have been able to flatten the curve of positive Covid-19 cases.