The Delhi High Court on Wednesday allowed home quarantine of a UK returned family of four members, including two kids. Earlier they have been put in seven days of institutional quarantine at a hotel near the airport after travelling from the UK, despite testing negative for Covid-19.
The bench of Justice Pratibha M Singh issued directions saying that there is a lack of clarity in the concern notification. The bench also directed to Delhi Government to instruct the Delhi Airport authority to prominently display related standard operating procedure (SOP) issued in this regard.
On Tuesday, the bench had sought response from the Ministries of Civil Aviation, External Affairs, Delhi Government and others in a plea seeking the release of four persons, including two children, from institutional quarantine.Lawyer Ganesh Chand Sharma representing the petitioner family had told the court that despite the negative report of the petitioner family who is having kids of six-year-old and three-year-old of age have been kept in institutional quarantine illegally and unlawfully.
The family of four members including two children, are UK citizens who had arrived from England on February 20 and were quarantined at Hotel Vivanta situated at Dwarka, the plea said. According to the plea, the family had undergone a COVID-19 test and they were issued a fit-to-fly certificate before starting from the UK by the concerned authorities.
The family again tested negative after arriving at Delhi airport. Despite the negative reports family was sent to the institutional quarantine forcibly and put in illegal confinement.
Advocate Ganesh Chand Sharma told the court that the UK passenger guidelines published on the Delhi airport website say the institutional quarantine is not mandatory for all passengers arriving from the UK, but only for passengers who test positive for coronavirus.
The lawyer also submitted that the action was illegal as according to the guidelines published on the Delhi airport website, institutional quarantine was not mandatory for all the passengers arriving from the UK and was applicable only to those who tested positive for COVID-19.
