HC rejects plea for allowing outdoor sports activities in Delhi

New Delhi, Feb 3 The Delhi High Court on Thursday rejected a plea seeking permission for outdoor sports activities in the city and told the petitioner to let the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) examine the situation in its meeting on Friday.

Hearing the petition, a bench of Justice V. Kameswar said that the DDMA is looking into the matter and a direction for permitting outdoor sports activities cannot be at the behest of the petitioner "who wants to play".

Advocate Atul Singh, who appeared for the petitioner, argued that there is a decline of Covid cases in the national capital and commercial activities such as functioning of restaurants, cinema halls, and malls are allowed.

However, the court observed that it cannot compare the demand with the opening of malls and cinema halls as it provides employment to people associated with that industry.

During the course of the hearing, advocate Satyakam, appearing on behalf of the city government, argued that the issue of allowing outdoor sports activity should be left to the DDMA.

The DDMA has called a virtual meeting on February 4 to discuss Covid restrictions amid declining cases in the national capital. Lt Governor Anil Baijal will chair the meeting, attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal among others, at 12 noon.

It is expected to takeAa decision on the reopening of schools along with easing other Covid curbs in the city, including the night curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

In its meeting on January 27, the weekend curfew and odd-even formula for shops in the market was lifted. Bars, restaurants, and cinemaAhalls have also been allowed to reopen with 50 percent capacity in the city. The DDMA also capped the number of people attending wedding in the national capital to 200 in the meeting.