Md. Liaqoat Ali Shaikh :
The mobile court administered by Executive Magistrates under intensive supervision of District Magistrates has played a substantial role in successfully tackling Covid-19 pandemic in Bangladesh since the inception of transmission back in March last year. From the effective management of the pandemic in the first phase to the prevention of second wave of transmission in the imminent winter, the mobile court has tremendously proved successful in implementing the health provisions, directions and restrictions issued by the government from time to time in order to lessen the transmission and mortality rate as less as possible and subsequently to safeguard the nation from the brunt enormously ominous coronavirus.
Since multidimensional conundrums were generated with the outset of the transmission, resolving those issues required immediate intervention, application of relevant laws and delivering justice instantly to which the mobile court was the single best solution.
To begin with, even before the first confirmed positive case of Covid-19 was recorded in Bangladesh, the drives of mobile courts have been conducted throughout the country in order to rigorously implement the compulsory home quarantine of immigrants returning from Covid-19 infected countries and the persons violating quarantine provisions have been awarded due punishment under relevant laws. Moreover, the Executive Magistrates had to conduct mobile courts for monitoring the isolation of Covid-19 patients once the novel coronavirus commenced to transmit in Bangladesh.
Furthermore, massive drives were conducted to enforce the home quarantine of the persons having contacts with the Covid-19 infected persons once contact tracing was finalized and the lists were delivered to local administration. Even for conducting mobile courts, the Executive Magistrates had to pay on-spot visit to the residence of Covid-19 patients and persons associated with them for regulating the proper adherence to quarantine and isolation provisions and take necessary actions where there was any instance of violation. On top of that, the Executive Magistrates had to intervene when the families of infected persons or those of returnees from abroad were subject to ridicule and humiliation. Even more disturbingly, the doctors, nurses and health workers initially faced acute stigma from different quarters of society that disrupted their daily life against which the Executive Magistrates had to play proactive role through inspecting the localities in ascertaining health practitioners’ social dignity and ameliorating the scenario in general.
When the first case of Covid-19 was recorded in Bangladesh, the demand for face masks and hand sanitizers along with other health commodities skyrocketed and under pretext of supply shortage, the unscrupulous business men nefariously escalated the prices of aforementioned commodities. Under such circumstances, the Executive Magistrates promptly frequented to pharmacy shops, promptly administered mobile courts and instantly took the offenders to task with the charge of hiking the prices irrationally and indiscriminately. And the outcome of such drives was evident. The prices of health commodities instantly decreased. Moreover, the Executive Magistrates relentlessly monitored the market of daily necessities like rice, potato, edible oil, vegetables, onion, green chilies and so on.
More significantly, the drives of mobile courts have been ceaselessly continued till now in order to rigorously implement the restrictions of the government and enormously ascertain the mandatory uses of face masks- from restaurants to shopping malls, from hat-bazars to crowded places. Even the mobile courts have been launched in the public transports not only to regulate health provisions but also to implement fair prices.
Most significantly, the mobile courts have proved astronomically successful in the management of Covid-19 because of the nature of the mobile courts and dedication of Executive Magistrates. The Mobile Court Act formulated in 2009 has empowered the Executive Magistrate to take into consideration of some offences on the spot and delivered sentence immediately on a limited scale in order to maintain law and order and execute the preventive measures more effectively and adroitly. The offences related to Covid-19 pandemic like violating government’s restrictions, defying social distances or disregarding the uses of face masks are as such as require immediate intervention and delivering justice on the spot for which mobile court is indubitably and undisputedly an absolute solution.
The dynamism, vibrancy and caliber the Executive Magistrates have demonstrated in order to combat Covid-19 as front liners through conducting mobile courts and executing health provisions throughout the pandemic period will be written in golden letter on the history of effective pandemic management and such activities will open up a new horizon for other nations as well as future generations to learn and subsequently apply the Bangladesh model of successful pandemic management.
(Md. Liaqoat Ali Shaikh is Upazila Nirbahi Officer, Sherpur, Bogura).
