The 22nd Law Commission of India has submitted its Report No. 286 titled “A Comprehensive Review of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897″ to the Government of India.
- The immediate response to COVID-19 such as the imposition of lockdown was invoked under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
- Further, in light of the immediate challenges, especially those faced by the healthcare workers, the Parliament amended the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 in 2020.
- In this highly globalized and interconnected world, future outbreaks of epidemics are a real possibility.
- Further, given that the right to health is a fundamental right implicit in Article 21 of the Constitution and the State is duty-bound to ensure the same to the citizens, it becomes imperative to revisit and strengthen the law in order to effectively tackle any such future health emergency.
Law panel’s observations
- The colonial era law concerns infectious disease outbreaks but is seen by experts as having been outdated.
- The provisions of the main law are not stringent enough to act as an effective deterrent, calling for stricter punishment for disobedience of guidelines and regulations made by the government during any health emergency.
- The Epidemic Diseases Act — for disobeying orders under the law and attacks on health care workers — are governed by sections of the criminal code Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (or the erstwhile Indian Penal Code). Under the BNS, while the punishment has been enhanced to a jail term that may extend to one year or a fine of Rs. 5,000 (up from IPC Section 188’s jail term of up to six months and a fine of Rs. 1,000), it may not be enough of a deterrent.
- It called for offences to be given a “statutory force” within the Epidemic Diseases Act in itself and violations to be clubbed in two categories.
- To avoid conflict between the Centre and state, the amended Act should appropriately decentralise and demarcate power between the two, and local authorities and state governments be given the primary task of implementing prevention and management provisions to contain an epidemic.
- The panel stressed on the need to clearly define what an ‘epidemic’ is and clarify the difference between ‘quarantine’ and ‘isolation.’
