Mumbai: All eyes may have been on Novak Djokovic in the men’s singles final at Wimbledon last week as he won another Grand Slam title, but the real scene for the Bombay High Court was a stadium full of spectators without masks. Questioning when India will see a return to this level of normalcy, the court said “vaccination of all” is the key to this.
A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Dutt and Justice GS Kulkarni was hearing a PIL regarding the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Maharashtra and the state government’s preparedness to face a possible third wave. The High Court told Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, “The Wimbledon final was the sight of this year. We don’t know if you’ve seen it, but not a single person was wearing a mask.”
The judges said, “The stadium was packed and no one was wearing a mask except a single woman. An Indian cricketer was also present and that too without a mask.
The court said, “When will India see such a situation? Vaccination of everyone is important for this.” The court said that the third wave of the pandemic has reportedly arrived in some states. “There are reports that the third wave has started in two northeastern states. We have to take measures.”
The judges said that “we are in a more comfortable position now but we should not dilute the safeguards.” The judges said that they have read the news about the delta-plus type of coronavirus under treatment cases that have surfaced in Maharashtra and the state should act to contain the spread of the infection. The High Court will hear the PILs after the next three weeks.
