Supreme Court orders not to charge those who do not wear masks

Photo Courtesy: Official Website of the Supreme Court

Kathmandu: The Supreme Court has issued an interim order in the name of the government not to fine the citizens who do not wear masks and not to keep them in the holding center. Currently, the police have been levying fines and keeping them in the holding center for walking without wearing a mask.

A bench of Justice Deepak Kumar Karki has issued an interim order stating that the Nepal Police does not have the right to keep them in the holding center.

The order states that the Nepal Police has used such acts in violation of the provisions of Article 4 of the Constitution of Nepal and Infectious Diseases Act 2020 and will not immediately penalize the citizens who do not wear masks and keep them in the holding center until the writ is settled.

The Supreme Court has stated that there is no easy supply and distribution of masks to the needy citizens even though it is the responsibility of the citizens to wear masks in the Corona epidemic.

Advocate Sagar Poudyal had also filed a writ petition at the apex court demanding that the government should include masks and sanitizers in the list of free medicines even if the government provides free basic health care.