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Hearing a petition against the gathering of Afghan nationals outside the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) office in Delhi, seeking refugee status in India, the Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi government to ensure that the number of protestors at the spot is suitably reduced, failing which, the court "will be constrained to pass orders."

The single judge bench of Justice Rekha Palli  has further directed the Delhi Government to ensure maintenance of Covid-19 protocol in the gathering.

The Court was hearing a petition by the Vasant Vihar Welfare Association against a large number of Afghan nationals protesting outside the UNHCR office in the Vasant Vihar area of south Delhi, seeking refugee status, causing inconvenience to the residents and creating a possibility of the spread of Covid-19.

The court on the previous hearing had issued notices to Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs, Delhi Government, Delhi Police, South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and Delhi Jal Board.

The court had observed that the gathering was causing inconvenience to the people and had directed the Delhi Government to apprise the Court on the steps being taken by the Government in pursuance of the Supreme Court’s guidelines on the right to protest.

The Court expressing concern had said that “this could be a super spreader”.

“What if this could be a super spreader of Covid-19. What is this, there are no masks. You should ensure some protocol is there. Why are they not wearing masks? You are giving challans to people daily for not wearing masks in cars”, the court had said.

The petition filed through Advocates Shahrukh Ejaz and Nilotpal Bansal has also sought direction to the Ministry of External Affairs to frame an appropriate policy for ensuring that such nuisance to the local residents does not occur on account of foreign missions/ diplomacies being in the vicinity of residential localities.

Case Title: Vasant Vihar Residents Welfare Association vs UOI