Coronavirus: Kangra imposes Section 144
DHARAMSALA, 15 March: In the wake of “growing threat of coronavirus”, section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CRPC) has been imposed in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district.
Amar Ujala reported the imposition of section 144 in the district until 15 April citing Kangra’s Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kumar Prajapati.
The Deputy Commissioner has stated in the report that the order has been issued as a precautionary step in line with the consultations issued by the Government to the public.
Under the order, five or more people can no longer gather in one place.
Section 144 of the CRPC of 1973 authorises the Executive Magistrate of any state or territory to issue an order to prohibit the assembly of four or more people in an area.
The orders to impose Section 144 have been conferred to Executive Magistrate when there is an emergency situation.
It is usually invoked to impose restrictions as a means to prevent protests that can lead to unrest.
According to the order under this section, there shall be no movement of public and all educational institutions shall also remain closed and there will be a complete bar on holding any kind of public meetings or rallies during the period of operation of this order.
Kangra now joins the likes of Mumbai and four districts of Jammu and Kashmir where authorities have also imposed Section 144 to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to worldometers.com, there are 162,501 COVID-19 cases across the world which have resulted in 6,068 deaths while 75,968 of those infected have recovered.
The number of people infected by COVID-19 in India has climbed to 110 as of Sunday, the Economic Times reported citing health officials.
So far, it has been confirmed that a 68-year-old woman from Delhi and a 76-year-old man from Karnataka have died due to infection of the deadly virus that originated from China.
No coronavirus case has been detected in Kangra district so far. Maharashtra is the worst affected state in India with 33 cases.
