BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Monday asked the Centre and State to make it clear whether or not services will be denied to people who have not downloaded the Arogya Setu app. A division bench of Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Ashok S Kinagi said during the hearing of a PIL filed by Anivar A Aravind, a resident of Cox Town in Bengaluru, that the respondent authorities — Ministries of Home Affairs, Railways, Civil Aviation and the government of Karnataka – must make their stand clear on behalf of the Centre and State.
The bench granted time to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to submit its response on its communication dated July 30, which made it mandatory for all passengers to use the app. The court directed the State to make clear whether it or its institutions had issued a communication making it a must for people to use the app to avail of services, specifically, Metro services.
This was after the Centre informed the court that the use of the app by passengers was premature as Metro services will remain suspended until August 31. Additional Solicitor General MB Naragund submitted that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had made it clear in the SOP that use of the app is not mandatory. However, the AAI’s communication was based on quarantine regulations issued by the respective states, Naragund told the court.