New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday slammed the petitioner for filing a Public Interest Litigation which sought directions to use the term "physical distancing" rather than "social distancing" amid the coronavirus outbreak.
According to sources, the petitioner had contended that the term social distancing should be discontinued and replaced with physical or individual distancing as these were more effective in making people understand the relevance of maintaining distance.
The petitioner argued that in a country like India where caste-based inequalities and stigmatization still exist, the use of the word “social distancing” could have widespread ramifications and lead to a new wave of discrimination and inequities against the beleaguered communities, sources said.
The apex court of the country quashed the petition seeking replacement of the word “social distancing” with “physical distancing” and instead imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the petitioner, sources added.
