Mumbai Mar 23 PTI The Maharashtra government on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court that it would be holding a meeting to review the existing coronavirus-related restrictions in keeping with latest directives from the Centre over ending all COVID-19 containment measures from March 31The Union government on Wednesday issued a letter saying all state governments can consider discontinuing issue of orders and guidelines under the Disaster Management Act for COVID-19 containment measures The letter comes in the wake of the continuous dip in coronavirus casesHowever wearing of face mask and maintaining social distancing norms will continue as earlierSenior counsel S U Kamdar appearing for the state government told a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M S Karnik that pursuant to the letter the state executive committee would hold a meeting and take further decisionThe bench was hearing a public interest litigation PIL that challenges the Maharashtra governments directive that one must have received both doses of the anti-coronavirus vaccine to travel in Mumbais suburban trains and use other modes of public transport in the cityThe bench took note of Kamdars submission and pointed out that the Supreme Court has reserved its orders on a plea of similar natureThe court then adjourned hearing on the plea till April 5The PIL filed by one Firoze Mithiborwala through advocate Nilesh Ojha challenged a circular dated March 1 2022 that was issued by the Maharashtra government to list out the standard operating procedures and safety measures citizens must follow in view of the COVID-19 pandemic The restriction on travel on public transport including local trains for the unvaccinated was included in the circularMithiborwala said in his PIL that the travel restriction was arbitrary unconstitutional and an indirect attempt on the Maharashtra governments part to make vaccination compulsory PTI SP RSY RSY

Mumbai Feb 22 PTI Maharashtra MLA Amin Patel and a resident of Kamathipura area in south Mumbai have approached the Bombay High Court against the use of the areas name in Bollywood film Gangubai Kathiawadi and sought it to be censored or deleted The petition filed by Shraddha Surve a resident of Kamathipura where a number of brothels operated in the past was mentioned before a division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Madhav Jamdar on Tuesday seeking urgent hearing as the movie is slated for release on Friday The bench said it would hear the petition on Wednesday Besides a PIL filed by MLA Amin Patel raising a similar objection was mentioned before a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M S Karnik which also said it would hear the plea on Wednesday The Sanjay Leela Bhansali-directed film based on a chapter from writer S Hussain Zaidis book Mafia Queens of Mumbai features Alia Bhatt as Gangubai one of the most powerful loved and respected madams from Kamathipura during the 1960s The petition filed by Surve said the movie shows the Kamathipura area in bad light and may besmirch and defame its residents If the movie is allowed to be released with the name Kamathipura then it would cause harm and disrespect to the residents especially women the petition said There should be no reference to the name Kamathipura Let the name be changed to anything elseMayapuri or Mayanagari the plea said Surve also said in the petition that currently not even five per cent of the Kamathipura area is active in prostitution The plea claimed the areas reputation has been lowered after the release of the films trailer since the movie makes wild allegations that are derogatory in nature and portray the entire area as a red-light hub The social impact the movie will cause is that all girl residents will be termed prostitutes teased and taunted and families will have to live with lowered dignity the plea stated Patel in his PIL said he had received several objections from local social service organisations and residents objecting to the portrayal of the neighbourhood as a hub of flesh trade PTI SP GK GK

Mumbai Feb 21 PTI The Bombay High Court on Monday asked the Maharashtra government if it was willing to withdraw its notification issued last year prohibiting people not vaccinated against COVID-19 from travelling in local trains in the city Let bygones be bygones Let there be a new beginning Chief Justice Dipankar Datta said adding that Chief Secretary Debashish Chakraborty must inform the court on Tuesday if the state government will withdraw its decision to permit only fully vaccinated people to travel in the suburban trains A bench of Chief Justice Datta and Justice M S Karnik was hearing two public interest litigations seeking that all people in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region MMR be allowed to travel in local trains irrespective of their vaccination status The PILs challenged three notifications issued by the Maharashtra government in July and August last year that prohibited unvaccinated people from travelling in local trains which are considered as the lifeline of Mumbai Niles Ojha the counsel for one of the petitioners had earlier argued in the HC that the prohibition on use of local trains by unvaccinated people was illegal arbitrary and in breach of the citizens fundamental right to move freely across the country as guaranteed by Article 19 1 d of the Constitution He had argued that the governments move discriminated between the vaccinated and unvaccinated people though neither the Centre nor the Maharashtra government had made vaccination mandatory On the previous hearings the HC asked for the state files on the three notifications under challenge and realised that the decision to prohibit unvaccinated people from travelling in local trains had been taken unilaterally by the then chief secretary Sitaram Kunte The high court on Monday said Chief Secretary has to withdraw order the notification on such prohibition Whatever has been done by his predecessor Kunte is not in accordance with law Withdraw this and allow people Now the COVID-19 situation has improved Maharashtra handled it beautifully Why are you inviting a bad name the court said The state must be sensible and not treat the issue as an adversarial litigation the court said and sought the chief secretarys response by Tuesday afternoon PTI AYA GK GK

Mumbai Dec 22 PTI The Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that allowing unvaccinated people to mix with others by using public transport will endanger the lives of others and invite explosive transmission of the coronavirus and its variants The government of Maharashtra as parens patriae guardian of the state cannot afford to take that risk it said an affidavit submitted in the HC The decision to prohibit people who were yet to receive both doses of COVID-19 vaccine from using public transport in the state had been taken to ensure those unvaccinated do not endanger the lives of others it said Allowing unvaccinated persons to mix with other people by using public transport will only endanger the lives of others and will invite explosive transmission of the coronavirus and its subsequent variants the government said in the affidavit filed through its chief secretary The Maharashtra government told a bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M S Karnik that such a decision was reasonable and not discriminatory or in breach of a citizens fundamental rights The unvaccinated people were prohibited from the use of public transport to ensure they do not mingle with other citizens and add to the spread of the coronavirus it said The state government filed its affidavit in response to two public interest litigations filed by one Firoze Mithiborwala and one Yohan Tengra claiming the states circular prohibiting unvaccinated people from travelling in local trains in Mumbai was without logic and in breach of such citizens right to equality Last week the HC had directed the Maharashtra government to file an affidavit explaining the rationale behind such prohibition On Wednesday the state said unvaccinated people were prohibited from not just the use of local trains but from all modes of public transport in the state The decision had been taken after consultation with experts and members of the states special task force for tackling COVID-19 it said The state government submitted that as on December 20 this year a total of 54 people in the state had been infected with the Omicron varaint of the virus It further said that as per data available till December 20 there were 544 new cases of COVID19 infections and four deaths due to the viral infection Unfortunately the problem is not over yet There is likelihood of a third wave and also the likelihood of spread of the new variant Omicron the affidavit said The government of Maharashtra therefore cannot take any risk and would like to err on the safer side on the issue of public health it added The state also submitted data on the devastating second wave of COVID-19 that hit people earlier this year and how state authorities struggled to ensure adequate medical aid hospital beds and oxygen supply for citizens The government said it did not want a repeat of such dire situation There was adequate research to prove that those who had taken both the doses of vaccine were less likely to contract severe COVID-19 or to require prolonged hospitalisation it said It urged the HC to dismiss the PILs saying such a prohibition on the unvaccinated people was reasonable The state government further said the petitioners themselves had received both the doses of vaccine While taking the vaccine is not mandatory for citizens in the country adequate vaccine doses and slots are now available across the state for those interested in taking the vaccine the state said The HC will hear the matter further on January 3 2022 PTI AYA GK GK

Mumbai Nov 29 PTI The Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Union government to apprise it on January 17 2022 about the introduction of the bill on cryptocurrency and what further action has been taken on the issue A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M S Karnik said it cannot direct the parliamentary legislation to enact a law The court was hearing a public interest litigation PIL filed by advocate Aditya Kadam seeking directions to the central government to formulate laws to govern the use and trade of cryptocurrency within the country Kadam highlighted the unregulated business of cryptocurrency in the country which he claimed affects the rights of the investors as there is no mechanism in law to redress their grievances Advocate D P Singh appearing for the Centre told the court that the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill has been introduced and would be discussed in the winter session of Parliament Kadam however argued that a similar statement was made by the Union government in 2018 and 2019 but no action was taken thereafter The court said it would keep the petition for further hearing on January 17 Lets see if they government enact the law With the introduction of the bill the allegations raised in the petition that the government has not taken any steps would be incorrect the bench said We cannot direct the parliamentary legislation to enact a law Chief Justice Datta said The Union government shall apprise us on the next date if the bill was introduced and what further action has been taken the court said The bill proposes to create a facilitative framework for creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India It also seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India However it allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses PTI SP GK GK