The Telangana High Court on Tuesday pulled up the state government on its management of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state and asked for various details about the steps taken by the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
A bench comprising Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy said that while they were satisfied with the initial response of the state government in tackling the crisis, it said that things had since taken a 'u-turn'.
Pointing out that the entire state, except for containment zones in Hyderabad, had been opened up, the court was quoted as saying “It’s a miracle all regions have suddenly become green zones.”
It asked for a detailed report on the protocol followed by the state in declaring districts as green, orange and red zones.
Seeking details on the number of migrants who returned to the state, the court observed that the state government had to take stock of the situation, especially in villages.
"How many migrants returned? How many of them tested positive and how many of them were sent to quarantine?" the court asked, according to reports.
The court expressed its dissatisfaction at the state government's move that said that asymptomatic domestic passengers landing at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) need not undergo any home quarantine and only needed to do 'self-surveillance' and report to authorities if they turned symptomatic.
The court also ordered the state government to ramp up testing and especially test samples from all dead bodies for the coronavirus disease at government hospitals and criticised the state for its overall poor testing numbers.
The court was hearing a batch of PILs filed by professor PL Vishweshwar Rao, Vice President of Telangana Jana Samithi party, and others.
Asking Advocate General BS Prasad to furnish the details, the matter was posted for further hearing to the first week of June.
This is not the first time the state government has been pulled by the high court. Earlier, the high court had criticised the government over its low testing numbers.