Bhubaneswar: A day after the Orissa High Court directed the Odisha Government to allow return of those migrants to the state who test negative for COVID-19, the Supreme Court today stayed the directive on Friday.
A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, S K Kaul and B R Gavai stayed the order on a mentioning made by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. The Ministry of Home Affairs had filed an urgent Special Leave Petition saying that the order of the High Court was “unworkable”.
The High Court had asked the state government to ensure that only those migrants, who test negative for COVID-19, are allowed to return to the state.
“The state government should ensure that all the migrants who are in the queue to come to Odisha should be tested negative for COVID-19 before boarding the conveyance,” the High Court had said.
Social activist Narayan Chandra Jena had written a letter to the High Court on May 1 seeking judicial intervention for ensuring that COVID-19 affected migrant workers are not allowed to enter the state by the government. The letter was later converted to a PIL on May 4.
