‘UP Govt Was Unprepared For Second COVID Wave’: Ex-Allahabad HC CJ

Courts cannot be expected to do the government’s job of handling the COVID crisis, Justice Mathur told The Quint.

File image of Justice Govind Mathur.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Justice Govind Mathur, who recently retired from the position of Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court, told The Quint that the Uttar Pradesh government should’ve been more prepared for the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Justice Mathur is celebrated as a “protector of civil liberties” within the legal fraternity. During his tenure, he ordered the release of Dr Kafeel Khan, who was arrested under National Security Act for raising the issue of oxygen shortage in UP.

Justice Mathur also presided over the Bench that struck down UP government’s policy of putting out “name and shame posters” of anti-CAA protestors.

In an interview with The Quint, he talks about the role played by the COVID Bench of the Allahabad HC in holding the Yogi Adityanath government accountable, as the wrath of the second wave unravelled in Uttar Pradesh.

Justice Mathur further said that those who lost their lives due to the negligence of the state government in assuring adequate medical infrastructure should be compensated.