On March 24, 2020, the Union government announced a stringent lockdown in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. A slew of disaster management ...
On March 24, 2020, the Union government announced a stringent lockdown in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. A slew of disaster management regulations and criminal laws were enforced to impose curfews and criminalise movement and existence in public space. Individuals violating these regulations were liable to criminal sanctions under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 which carries up to six months’ imprisonment and a fine. Although Section 188 is a bailable offence, in some Indian states such as Madhya Pradesh it is non-bailable.
A public health crisis was diagnosed as a criminal law problem, and the police were tasked with the responsibility of maintaining order. The police in India normally enjoy wide discretionary powers and exercise them arbitrarily, particularly against marginalised communities. During the pandemic these discretionary powers were amplified. Any individual who did not have a satisfactory reason for being in a public space could be criminalised by the police under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code.
A study by the Criminal Justice and Police Accountability Project of policing during the pandemic analysed 500 FIRs and 34,000 arrest records. It found that over 6,000 people were arrested solely for violating lockdown regulations and that over 4,000 people...
