COVID-19: Plea filed before Delhi court seeking NIA probe on coronavirus spread

New Delhi: A plea was filed in a Delhi Court on Tuesday seeking a probe by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) into the spread of the COVID-19 virus which allegedly originated from China.

The plea filed by former Director-General of Health and Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Dr Jagdish Prasad, urged the court to direct the NIA to lodge an FIR for various offences punishable under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act and Indian Penal Code.

In the complaint filed before Special Judge Dinesh Kumar Sharma, Prasad said it was public knowledge that the origin of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS- CoV-2), which causes COVID-19, was in the city of Wuhan in Hubei Province, China.

The complaint claimed that even though the intelligence agencies and agencies responsible for oversight of immigration into India were aware of the risk associated with the virus, they did not issue any warnings, directions, or take any steps to control the spread of the virus in the early stages.

“Their role therefore appears to be under scrutiny in the investigation,” it said.

It further submitted that the discovery of facts in the knowledge of several officials who have been involved in the management of the spread of COVID-19 in India may also be necessary.

Officials associated with the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), etc., are material witnesses in the process of investigation, it said.

“In view of the nefarious, terrorist, expansionist, aggressive and animus behaviour of China at the borders in North-East region of India, it would be very dangerous to not undertake a detailed investigation qua the origins and spread of the virus from China to India so that the entire truth in this regard can come out and the guilty are punished in accordance with various provisions of Indian laws,” it said.

Prasad claimed that whether the virus was transmitted to human beings upon contact with bats, through an intermediary host, or was a result of incidental or intentional transmission from a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, has been subject matter of inquiry at the national level in various countries, including the United States of America, and Australia, as well as the World Health Organization.

The complaint said that an investigation was required to be conducted into the origins of the virus and its transmission to human beings ‘which has culminated in the most devastating pandemic of this century.’

Further, the economic impact of the pandemic has been catastrophic, with the economy of India having contracted by 24% between 2020-2021, it added.

“Surprisingly, despite the fact that the virus had undoubtedly originated in China, the number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in China has been miniscule, with barely ninety thousand cases, and less than five thousand deaths while their economy remains rather unaffected by the pandemic, meanwhile the economy of India has taken a nosedive, giving a strong indication of motive and benefit for the criminal intent behind the origin and spread of the virus,” it said.

It claimed the virus was a ‘possible deliberate conspiracy by state and/or non-state actors in China’, as part of a coordinated creation and transmission of the virus.