Amid Omicron alarm, Section 144 imposed in Mumbai for 2 days; large gatherings banned

With the rise in COVID 19 cases, Mumbai imposed Section 144 for 2 days i.e. Saturday and Sunday.

The order was issued by the DCP (Operations). Section 144 of the CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure) is imposed to restrict the further spread of the COVID 19 variant. It includes prohibiting rallies, marches, protests and processions of people or vehicles.

The order issued stated that to prevent danger to human life from the new Omicron variant of COVID 19 and also against the violence that took place in Amravati, Malegaon and Nanded. The order also stated that the violators will be punished under section 188 of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) and other legal provisions.

Around 7 new cases of the new Omicron variant were reported in Maharashtra on Friday. A 3-year-old child from Pune was one of them.

According to the state health department, 3 out of the 7 cases were reported from Mumbai and the other 4 were from PCMC (Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation). All the 3 Mumbai patients are males aged 25,37 and 48. These passengers had a travel history to South Africa, Tanzania and the UK. With this, the country’s total Omicron tally went up to 32.

The decision to impose Section 144 was taken for two reasons. The first reason was to avoid the rally planned by the AIMIM were several workers came to Mumbai and party chief Asaduddin Owaisi may also attend the event. Due to the luring Omicron threat, the Mumbai police have denied permission for the rally. However, AIMIM is still going to host the rally. The second reason to impose Section 144 was the protests planned by BJP against Sanjay Raut’s statement.

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