Supreme Court Stays Orissa HC Order On Mandatory COVID-19 Testing For Migrants Entering Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed Orissa High Court order passed on Thursday which directed that migrant workers should be allowed entry to Odisha only after testing negative for COVID-19.

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, S K Kaul and B R Gavai stayed the order on a mentioning made by Solicitor General.

On Thursday, the Orissa High Court passed an interim order in which it said that the state government “should ensure that all the migrants who are in queue to come to Odisha should be tested negative of COVID-19 before boarding the conveyance.”

The order was passed by the judges in a petition filed by one Narayan Chandra Jena, in which he had asked the high court to prevent the entry of anyone into the state because of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

Following the High Court order, the State govt cancelled all special trains which were scheduled to leave for Odisha from Surat on Friday, carrying over 3,000  Odia migrants.