Accusing the state government of “fudging” data on coronavirus cases, the Telangana High Court on Monday took a serious view of the situation and warned of issuing a contempt notice for misleading the court.
The court found the 587-page report filed by the government on coronavirus cases to be “totally vague.” The court was certain that the government indulged in fudging the death numbers as daily coronavirus deaths were invariably around 10, and sarcastically remarked, “Has the state government issued any direction to Lord Yama asking him to take only 10 persons per day?”
The bench comprising Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy were quoted as saying by The New Indian Express, “Figures are fudged. The report was cleverly drafted to fool the court. We will not permit anyone, including the government, to take the court for a ride. We are not happy with the report and several court orders issued earlier are flouted again. If it is repeated then we have no other option but to ask the state chief secretary to appear again for explanation.”
The court observed that people were being kept in the dark by giving the wrong picture of the pandemic situation. The judges said that in the 587-page report, there was no explanation regarding the reduction in number of tests per day on weekends, and the death figures which fluctuate between seven and 13 per day despite an increase in the number of positive cases.
Dissatisfied with the report, the judges directed the government to collect data pertaining to COVID-19 tests, treatment and deaths from Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Delhi during the same period and compare them with Telangana data and provide a comparative study by November 16. “This will clearly show how death figures are fudged here,” the judges were quoted as saying by The Times of India.