ECI SINGULARLY RESPONSIBLE FOR SECOND PHASE OF COVID-19
The Election Commission is singularly responsible for the second wave of Covid and should probably be booked for murder, the Madras High Court observed today in the sharpest criticism yet of crowded campaigns for the five state polls that continued in the middle of raging virus cases. The court has threatened to stop the counting of votes on Sunday if a "blueprint" is not in place. The Election Commission will react after it sees the order, sources say. "Your institution is singularly responsible for the second wave of COVID-19. Your officers should be booked on murder charges probably," the Madras High Court told the Election Commission. The election body had failed to enforce Covid safety rules like masks, sanitisers and distancing during campaigning despite court orders, said the High Court. "Were you on another planet when the election rallies were held," Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee questioned. The High Court also asked for a plan to enforce Covid