Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 and other relevant law

Recently WHO after making a thorough assessment has characterized COVID -19 as a pandemic, thus it should not be taken lightly. One should understand that all the past pandemic outbreaks have affected billions and have wiped out millions of people, as of now, there are lakhs of persons affected by COVID-19 in the world and in India there is 332 total no. of cases (Till 21st March). From time to time Various state government and union government has deployed numerous preventive measures to curb the spreading of coronavirus. The state of Rajasthan has imposed gathering restrictions under section 144 of CrPC in the entire state similarly, Maharashtra, Delhi, and various other states have implemented various preventive measures. It is pertinent to mention here that not only state but even various high courts will remain close so as to prevent the spread of the COVID-19. Thus it is apposite to say that the government with the help of the public is trying its best to curb the growth of coronavirus affected cases.  You will be highly disappointed if you are looking for some tips/precautions for coronavirus in this article (Please refer to the WHO website https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public ) as in fact this article discusses the powers of the State under the Epidemic Disease Act 1987 and the effect of the above-said powers on the fundamental rights of citizens.
On 11th March, cabinet secretary advised all the state /Ut’s to invoke section 2 of Epidemic Disease Act 1897 (hereinafter to be referred to as the act of 1897) so that all advisories being issued from time to time by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare/State/UTs can become enforceable. The objective of the act of 1897 was to provide for the better prevention of the spread of Dangerous Epidemic Diseases. It only has 4 sections however the most important one of them is section 2 which empowers the state to take special measures and prescribe regulations as to dangerous epidemic.
Some of the important sections/laws are

·        Epidemic Disease Act 1987

  1. Powerto take special measures and prescribe regulations as to dangerous epidemic disease.—This section in case of any outbreak of any disease empowers the state government to take special measures so as to prevent the spreading of the disease. Under this section state can take any means necessary to prevent the outbreak and can take measures such as inspections of persons travelling, isolation of persons who are suspected of having being infected by such disease.
  2. Penalty.—Any the person disobeying any regulation or order made under this Act shall be deemed to have committed an offense punishable under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).

·        Indian Penal Code 1860

188 Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant.—This section prescribes punishment for a person who disobeys the order and as a result of such disobedience he causes obstruction, annoyance or injury, or risk of obstruction, annoyance or injury, to any person lawfully employed, be punished with simple impris­onment for a term which may extend to one month or with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees, or with both; and if such disobedience causes or trends to cause danger to human life, health or safety, or causes or tends to cause a riot or affray, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both.
269 Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease danger­ous to life.— This section prescribes punishment for the person who unlawfully or negligently performs an act that could spread the disease.270 Malignant act likely to spread infection of disease danger­ous to life.— This section prescribes the punishment for the person who malignantly does any act which is, and which he knows or has reason to believe to be, likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.
The act of 1897 has been invoked several times in the past such as in 2015, the Act was brought into force to deal with dengue and malaria in Chandigarh; and in 2009, it was enforced in Pune to combat the outbreak of swine flu. However, since desperate time calls for desperate measures, therefore, this time the union government has advised all the state government to invoke section 2 of the act of 1897 so as to implement the preventive measures for coronavirus.

Are the Provisions of the act of 1897 are relevant to combat the modern issues?

The act of 1897 was first enacted to counter the bubonic plague in Bombay. The Governor-General at that time had directed local authorities to take necessary actions so as to prevent plague. The act of 1897 is very much effective and that even after Independence the Government has from time to time had relied on the act to take measures so as to curb the outbreak of various diseases. However, there are certain amendments that are required such as setting up of Epidemic Disease Control Board for proper coordination of various state bodies to curb the outbreak of disease.  Recently FIR has been registered against Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor under section 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant).

What happens to individual rights during this period?

From time to time, a lot of people have questioned the actions of the government and presume these actions to be in violation of their fundamental rights (especially Art 19 and Art 21). It is a well-settled principle that Fundamental Rights are not an absolute right and can be limited due to certain factors as the state can impose reasonable restrictions as per the procedure established by law. The Apex court has in numerous cases have said that fundamental rights are not an absolute right and will have reasonable restrictions in the matters of national interest and mutual interest of citizens of state[1]. As mentioned above to prevent the outbreak of COVID-19 to spread further central government has advised the state government to invoke section 2 of the act of 1897 so as to implement the preventive measure to curb the impact of COVID-19. In pursuance of the above advice, various governments have imposed gathering restrictions under Section 144.  Even after all these precautions, the protest against CAA in Shaheen Bagh is still going on despite the fact that there have been various requests to call of the protest for the time being so as to curb the spreading of COVID-19. Some ignorant people are unnecessarily making a mountain over a molehill by saying that these preventive measures are infringing their right to assemble when it’s clear that fundamental rights under the constitution are not absolute.

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[1] Justice K. S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) and Anr. vs Union Of India And Ors; 2017 10 SCC 1

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