Centre tells SC posters outside Covid-positive homes aren't compulsory; meant to caution

The Supreme Court said on Tuesday that COVID-19 patients are treated as "untouchables", after warning posters are pasted outside their homes, causing a social stigma among the people. 

The Centre informed the apex court that although it has not prescribed this rule, the practice is aimed at warning people from inadvertently entering the house of the affected patients. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said that some states have pursued this practice to prevent the spread of the virus.

The Supreme Court bench consisting of Justice Ashok Bhushan, RS Reddy, and MR Shah said, “the ground reality at the grassroots level is that once such a notice is pasted outside the patient’s house, he is treated by others as untouchable.”

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SG Tushar Mehta said the Central government is not in favour of pasting posters outside the homes of affected persons, if it leads to maligning or stigmatizing them. The Centre submitted that it never prescribed to affix 'COVIDー19 positive' posters outside patients' houses and hence, states can pass suitable orders to stop this practice.

The top court has deferred the hearing for Thursday to enable the petitioner to respond to the detailed affidavit filed by the Centre. The plea has sought directions for doing away with the practice of pasting posters outside houses of COVID-19 patients.

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