STRIKING A BALANCE

Court allows parties, others to distribute relief, but with riders

Sureshkumar.K@timesgroup.com

Chennai:17.04.2020

The Madras high court on Thursday gave conditional permission for political parties and other organisations for direct distribution of relief material, striking a balance between a Tamil Nadu government order banning such Good Samaritanism and the DMK’s opposition to the ban.

Parties and organisations must inform concerned authorities at least 48 hours in advance, and there should not be more than three organisers, besides the vehicle driver, distributing the material to those in need, said a division bench of Justices R Subbiah and R Pongiappan. Though the state’s restrictions on direct distribution are not arbitrary, its insistence that relief material should be handed over to government authorities is not well-founded, said the judges. There shall not be any distribution of food in areas earmarked as hotspots, they added.

Three PILs – one each by the DMK, MDMK general secretary Vaiko and advocate A P Suryaprakasam – were filed against the government’s order. The judges said: “... It is very much essential that the organisers or beneficiaries must strictly adhere to certain norms...”

The court made it clear that preparation and distribution of food have to be conducted within the zone in respect of corporation limits, and within police station limits in rural areas. It added that organisations shall strictly ensure that social distancing is followed during distribution of food. The court said it is open to authorities to impose other reasonable conditions to ensure that the distribution is done without deviation of norms.

The HC added that the place where food is likely to be served must be sanitised by authorities concerned prior to distribution and the state can deploy police to regulate the same.