A family of four including two minor children has been sent to 7-day institutional quarantine after returning from the UK, the family told the Delhi High Court on Tuesday.
A notice has been issued to the ministries of civil aviation and external affairs by Justice Prathiba M Singh. The Delhi government is seeking their stand on the plea moved by the family which is quarantined at Hotel Vivanta in Dwarka, New Delhi.
Appearing for the family, advocate Ganesh Chand Sharma, told the court that all the members were tested for COVID-19 when they arrived here from the UK on February 20 and despite testing negative they were “illegally and unlawfully” sent to institutional quarantine.
According to the guidelines published on the Delhi airport website, institutional quarantine was not mandatory for all the passengers arriving from the UK and was applicable only to those who tested positive for COVID-19 and the action was illegal said Sharma.
Before starting from the UK the family had undergone a COVID-19 test and they were issued a ‘fit-to-fly’ certificate, said the petition.
They were again tested after arriving at Delhi, and were found negative for COVID-19, despite that they were sent to institutional quarantine at their cost in a 5-star hotel instead of home quarantine as sought by the petitioners.
The plea has sought that the petitioners to be released from their alleged “illegal confinement” and the cost of their “forced” stay at the premium lounge of IGI airport at Rs 2,600 per person at the hotel be borne by the Centre and Delhi government.
However, the petitioners have also sought compensation from the two governments “for the pain and agony suffered due to the wrongful act and conduct” of the authorities.
