PILs seeking data on dengue to be treated as ‘representation’: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the city government to take up a public interest litigation seeking ‘accurate’ data related to the spread of dengue this year as representation.

Standing counsel for the Delhi government at the outset told a bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma that filing a petition in the court cannot replace the procedure under the Right to Information Act but assured that the authorities would accept the plea will treat it like a representation.

Advocate Santosh Kumar Tripathi said the disease has spread this year due to the floods and the petitioner should not have approached the court directly without first seeking the information from the government authorities.

The bench, which also included Justice Sanjeev Narula, observed that “everyone has the right to know” and asked the authorities to consider the PIL as a representation, as proposed.

Considering the government’s stand, the court held that no further orders were necessary on the PIL.

Petitioner Savera Sandesh, a local Hindi newspaper, said in his petition that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) releases data related to dengue cases every year, but this year for the first time it has stopped releasing the data.

“In the case of dengue fever, MCD releases data on a weekly basis almost every year, which helps the general population with cleanliness,” the petition said.

“The petitioner wanted to publish through his newspaper about the current data regarding dengue fever to create awareness among the local people… when he tried to get data from other newspapers and sources, he was dismayed to learn that MCD has not been investigated.” releasing the data on dengue fever since August 5, 2023,” it added.

The petitioner claimed that there were more patients with dengue this year due to a severe variant of the virus and according to MCD officials, they are doing well to curb the menace of dengue and there is no need to release the data.