The High Court of Karnataka on Thursday declined to entertain a PIL petition seeking a series of directions for setting up laboratories to conduct research on virus species that infect humans and to constitute a panel to work out the modalities to set up research labs and create a “coronavirus source-destroying expert squad”.
Observing that most of the issues discussed in the petition were in the realm of policy, the High Court said that an order on constituting a panel as sought by the petitioner would be counterproductive and would interfere with the steps taken by the State and Union governments to deal with the outbreak.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Savanur Vishwajith Shetty passed the order while disposing of a petition filed by the Advocates’ Forum for Constructive Social Work, Dharwad.
“Considering that a large number of COVID-19 positive cases [are reported] every day in the country, both the Central and State governments are facing a difficult task. It is obvious that both governments are conscious of the fact that to prevent the spread of COVID-19, it is necessary to conduct research and find solutions,” the Bench observed.
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