How special pass was issued to MLA during lockdown

The Uttarakhand High Court has asked the State government to explain the circumstances under which MLA from Uttar Pradesh Aman Mani Tripathi and his associates were issued special pass to drive to Badrinath and Kedarnath at a time when the Government of India had directed the state governments to ensure effective enforcement of the lockdown.

Asking this, the division bench of chief justice Ramesh Ranganathan and justice RC Khulbe also issued notices to additional chief secretary Om Prakash, four district magistrates, Tripathi and his associates. They have been directed to respond within three weeks.

Hearing on a PIL filed by Dehradun resident Alok Ghildiyal seeking a probe by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into how the UP MLA and 10 of his acquaintances were able to travel upto Karnprayag on their way to Badrinath with an official pass during the lockdown earlier this month, the division bench asked the State government to explain the circumstances under which the special pass was issued.

Expressing its displeasure at the issuance of such a pass, the high court also issued notices to the additional chief secretary, district magistrates of Dehradun, Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Pauri along with Tripathi and his nine acquaintances.

It will be recalled that Ghildiyal had filed a PIL seeking a probe by the CBI. During the previous hearing, the state government counsel had stated that the petition was worth quashing as cases had been lodged against the MLA and his friends in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

Considering this, the matter does not merit a probe by the CBI, the government representative had said. On the basis of a letter written by a senior bureaucrat, the Dehradun district administration had issued a pass to Tripathi and his friends to travel to Badrinath-Kedarnath purportedly for conducting rituals for the recently deceased father of UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

The pass had been issued for the period from May 2 to 7. After crossing various districts, Tripathi and his friends were stopped at Karnprayag in Chamoli district where he entered in a heated argument with the team of the local administration on May 3. 

The Chamoli administration stood its ground and asked him to turn back.

On the same night, the MLA and his supporters were booked under section 188 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Epidemic Diseases Act. After hearing the matter, the division bench had earlier directed the petitioner to make the officials concerned party in the case.