'Covid Care Facility Inside Campus Made Operational': JNU, Delhi Govt Claim In High Court, Petitioners Granted Time To File Response

The Delhi High Court has granted time to Jawaharlal Nehru University Teacher's Association and others till September 17 in order to respond to the claim of the University and the Delhi Government that the Covid care centre has been made operational inside it's campus.

The said claim was however refuted by the petitioners who submitted before Justice Rekha Palli that the position on the ground was strikingly different.

Noting that the status report filed on behalf of the University and the Delhi Government was not on record, the Court ordered the Petitioners to file their response within 2 weeks. Meanwhile, JNU has been asked to bring its reply on record after removing objections, if any.

The order states as follows:

"Status report stated to have been filed by the respondents is not on record. Let the same be placed on record after removing objections, if any.

Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that though the respondents claim that the COVID-Centre in the JNU Campus has been made operational, the position on the ground is strikingly different. He, therefore, prays for and is granted two weeks' time to file a response to the status report purported to have been filed by the respondents."

The Court was dealing with a writ petition filed by the Students Union and the Teachers Union at JNU as also two Professors who teach at the University seeking various directions to the Respondents including a direction for setting up COVID care facilities in the University Campus, as also a COVID response team, and certain Oxygen facilities inside the University Campus premises.

Earlier, the Court had sought response of the Delhi Government on its proposal with respect to the above demand and had questioned it's conduct for not expediting the proposal even after lapse of over a month.

The petitioners argued that due to the outbreak of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, around the second week of April, the Petitioners wrote several letters to the Registrar of the Respondent University, The Vice-Chancellor of JNU as also the ADM/ SDM of the concerned area seeking immediate intervention.

However, there was no response from any of the said authorities, and on any of the concerns raised by the Petitioners, thus, the petition was filed.

Noting that the COVID Task Force and the COVID response Team is already working within the JNU campus, Justice Pratibha Singh had issued directions in the matter after observing that setting up a dedicated 'COVID Care Centre' would enable such affected persons to immediately isolate and for their basic parameters to be monitored.

During the previous hearing in May end, the Court had asked the University and Delhi Government to file fresh status report on the progress made in this regard.

The Court had previously pulled up JNU administration for not reacting with "swiftness and alacrity", as COVID cases continue to rise.

Case Title: JNU Teachers' Association & Ors. v. JNU & Anr.

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