NEW DELHI: Six former bureaucrats have approached the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Centre to appoint a commission of inquiry into the alleged mismanagement of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
A bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao is scheduled to hear the plea on Friday that sought the panel to be headed by a retired apex court judge.
The petition has alleged that the Centre has failed to undertake timely and effective measures for containing transmission of the virus and an independent inquiry by a commission, appointed under the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1952, was essential to inquire into the lapses.
The petition, filed through advocate Prashant Bhushan, has claimed that the Centre’s response to the pandemic and its deleterious impact on the lives and livelihoods of the citizens is a definite matter of public importance and warrants appointment of a commission under Section 3 of the Act.
The plea has claimed that the nationwide lockdown, which was imposed from March 25, and the manner in which it was implemented has had a devastating impact on jobs, livelihood and the overall economy.
“In spite of being the harshest and most restrictive lockdown in the world, it has failed to arrest the spread of the disease,” the plea claimed and also referred to the exodus of migrant workers and daily wagers during the lockdown from cities to their respective home towns.