PIL in Delhi HC against 7-day mandatory home quarantine for international arrivals withdrawn

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on home quarantine for international arrivals was withdrawn from the Delhi High Court on Wednesday. It sought direction to the Government of India to reconsider its guidelines for international arrivals, whereby all of them are mandated to undergo home quarantine for seven days on arrival in India.

The Division Bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Navin Chawla on Wednesday allowed the petitioner to withdraw the petition after taking note that the matter has been resolved as the guidelines concerned have been already revised.

Court noted that international travellers no longer need to quarantine for seven days or get tested at the airport if they come from an at-risk country, according to the revised guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry last month.

The petitioner Pravasi Legal Cell, through Advocate MP Srivignesh, earlier submitted that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued guidelines for international arrivals dated January 7, 2022, which provided for protocols to be complied by international travellers as well as those to be followed by airlines and all points of entry (airports, seaports and land border).

The said Standard Operating Procedure was implemented w.e.f. January 11, 2022, till further orders.

The plea stated that as per the guidelines, incoming travellers are required to upload their COVID-19 RT PCR test results on a government portal to be monitored by regional authorities on the eighth day, while continually monitoring their health for another week.

"Those passengers found symptomatic during the screening will be isolated and taken to a medical facility. If positive, their samples would be sent for genome sequencing to confirm the Omicron strain. All other passengers have to observe seven days mandatory home quarantine," the plea stated.

It further submitted that the guideline making it mandatory for all the international passengers to undergo seven day home quarantine has affected the international passengers, especially NRIs and other Indians working abroad, to make a short visit to India for various reasons.

Petitioner Pravasi Legal Cell (NGO) also submitted that countries all over the world have made it mandatory for travellers to provide 72-hours pre-departure RT-PCR test results which are sufficient to show the person is not infected.

However, the respondent insisting on seven days mandatory quarantine have made it difficult for all the Indians travelling back for short trips, the plea stated.

( With inputs from ANI )

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