epidemic disease act

1. The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 & Epidemic
Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020

2. History & Need
• Around September 1896, one case of Bubonic Plague was detected in
Mandvi (then in Bombay Presidency) now in Gujarat.
• Almost 1900 deaths were reported per week during the spread of
epidemic.
• India, then under the rule of Queen and British Parliament, had to act
swiftly to prevent the plague from spreading to rest of India.
• It was then that the Epidemic Act 1897, was enacted by the British
Parliament to curb the spread of plague.

3. Introduction
• Enacted on 4th February, 1897
• An Act to provide for the better prevention of the spread of Dangerous
Epidemic Diseases.
• Has 04 Sections
• The Act has been routinely used to contain various diseases in India
2009: Pune to combat swine flu.
2015: Chandigarh to deal with dengue and malaria
2018:Gujarat to combat Cholera

4. Section 2
• Special provisions for regulations to be imposed by the government
at the time of any dangerous epidemic disease.
• This provision gives powers to the State Government if it is satisfied
that any part of the state is affected by or threatened to be affected
by outbreak of any dangerous epidemic disease
• If the government feels that there are no measures in the ordinary
provisions of law to deal with the said epidemic.

5. Section 2
• The State Government may take following measures for the safeguard
of the public at large which shall be temporary in nature in order to
prevent the outbreak of such a disease:
Inspect the person travelling.
Segregation of people suspected of being diagnosed with the disease in
hospital, or temporary accommodations or otherwise.

6. Section 2A
• Empowers the Central Government to inspect ships and vessels
leaving or arriving in the territories of India
• Empowers the government to detain such vessels if required.

7. Penalization
• Section 3 provides with the penalties for disobeying the regulations
made by the government under section 2 and 2A.
• The punishment for such disobedience shall be the same as Section
188 of Indian Penal Code (IPC).
• Section 188 of IPC titled “Disobedience to order duly promulgated
by public servant” :
 Minimum punishment of 1 month and maximum for 6 months and/ or fine
of Rs.1000/- shall be meted out to the person who is in violation of the
regulations/notification of the government.

8. Protection
• Section 4
protects the Government and its employees and officers from any
prosecution, civil or criminal, for doing anything in good faith.

9. Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020
• Introduced to amend the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 in order to
provide protection to health care service personnel, their living
premises as well as their workplaces against any violence during the
course of a pandemic.
• Passed by the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha in the monsoon session of
2020
• Earlier notified through an Ordinance by the Union Government in
April 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak in India
• Introduced in the Rajya Sabha on September 14, 2020.

11. Definitions
• Healthcare service personnel defined as persons who are at risk of
contracting the epidemic disease while carrying out duties related to
the epidemic.
• They include:
(i) Public and clinical healthcare providers such as doctors and nurses
(ii) Any person empowered under the Act to take measures to
prevent the outbreak of the disease
(iii) Other persons designated as such by the State Government.

12. Definitions
• An ‘act of violence’ includes any of the following acts committed
against a healthcare service personnel:
(i) Harassment impacting living or working conditions,
(ii) Harm, injury, hurt, or danger to life,
(iii) Obstruction in discharge of duties,
(iv) Loss or damage to the property or documents of the healthcare
service personnel.

13. Definitions
• Property includes:
(i) Clinical establishment,
(ii) Quarantine facility,
(iii) Mobile medical unit,
(iv) Any other property in which a healthcare service personnel has
direct interest, in relation to the epidemic.

14. Protection for healthcare personnel and
damage to property
• The Bill specifies that no person can:
(i) commit or abet the commission of an act of violence against a
healthcare service personnel,
Or
(i) abet or cause damage or loss to any property during an epidemic.
• Contravention of this provision is punishable
with imprisonment between three months and five years,
a fine between Rs 50,000 and Rs.2,00,000.
• This offence may be compounded by the victim with the permission
of the Court.

15. Protection for healthcare personnel and
damage to property
• Further, if an act of violence against a healthcare service personnel
causes grievous harm, the person committing the offence will be
punishable with
Imprisonment between six months and seven years, and
Fine between Rs.1,00,000 and Rs.5,00,000 .
• These offences will be cognizable and non-bailable.

16. Compensation
• Persons convicted of offences under the Bill will also be liable to pay
compensation to the healthcare service personnel whom they have
hurt.
• In the case of damage or loss of property, the compensation payable
to the victim will be twice the amount of the fair market value of the
damaged or lost property, as determined by the Court.
• If the convicted person fails to pay the compensation, the amount will
be recovered as an arrear of land revenue under the Revenue
Recovery Act, 1890.

17. Investigation
• Cases registered under the Bill will be investigated by a police officer,
not below the rank of Inspector.
• The investigation must be completed within 30 days from the date of
registration of the First Information Report (FIR).

18. Trial
• The inquiry or trial should be concluded within one year.
• If it is not concluded within this time period, the Judge must record
the reasons for the delay and extend the time period.
• However, the time period may not be extended for more than six
months at a time.
• When prosecuting a person for causing grievous harm to a healthcare
service personnel, the Court will presume that person is guilty of the
offence, unless the contrary is proved.

19. Powers of the Central Government:
• The Bill expands the powers of the central government to regulate
the inspection of any bus, train, goods vehicle, ship, vessel, or
aircraft leaving or arriving at any land port, port, or aerodrome.
• Further, the government may regulate the detention of any person
intending to travel by these means.

20. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

21. Critical Analysis
• An archaic legislation as it came into existence 123 years ago
• Changes that happened during the recent years, it consists of several
limitations.
• Act needs a lot of moderation as with time, most epidemiological
concepts have changed, including the precautionary measures undertaken
to curb epidemic diseases.
• The Act is more than a century old, when the organisations like World
Health Originations and United Nations were not even established. The Act
lags behind in implementing the guidelines issued by these originations
time and again.

22. Critical Analysis
• Not in conformity with the recent scientific advancements that we use
today to respond to these diseases.
• It insists on the isolation or quarantine of patients at home
• Reserved on the scientific methods used to curb outbreaks such as
immunization, vaccination, medication, government response towards the
disease, setting up a laboratory, etc.
• Focus: Aversion to the spread of the disease rather than to extirpate it.

23. Critical Analysis
• The Act refers to a “dangerous epidemic disease”, but does not
define it.
• The Act does not define “outbreak” or “pandemic”
• Fails to mention criteria to determine how a disease is considered
“dangerous” and who decides whether a said disease is dangerous or
not.
• The law fails to identify what factors determine the satisfaction of
the Centre or State regarding an “outbreak” or even what situations
may be deemed to be “epidemic” situations.

24. Critical Analysis
• Neither prescribes a situation as when it should be invoked nor does
it tell us how to handle a scenario like the present one.
• It only empowers the Government to pass any guidelines or
legislation as it deems fit.
• Does not provide any directions to the Government for the
organization of committees or any special authority which can
represent both Central and State Government and can act on its own
in a preventive manner without waiting for the Government’s
approval.

25. Critical Analysis
• Fails to provide any relief and financial assistance to the general
public, to sustain their livelihood during a crisis like the present one.
• Over the course of the ongoing pandemic, various State Governments
have used the powers contained in the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897
to carry out arrests purportedly to control the spread of infections.
• Failure to even-handedly implement these provisions to prevent
gatherings (religious or personal) points towards the uncertainty or
selectivity of the state machinery .

26. Critical Analysis
• Lack of balance between the fundamental rights of citizens against
arbitrary arrests and the sweeping powers granted to the police forces
under the Act have been famously criticised by historians David Arnold and
Myron J. Echenberg.
• Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 lays down the penalty
provisions for violation of measures undertaken pursuant to the Act
alluding squarely to section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (“IPC”).
• The provision, as it stands, has not been amended but modified with
additional penal provisions specific to acts of violence only against
healthcare service personnel.

27. Critical Analysis
• With respect to the healthcare service personnel lays down specific
timelines for investigation by police personnel as well as trial by court,
which is woefully missing in the Act with respect to disobedience
against orders by public servants.
• Impose only criminal penalties for its violation rather than imposing
both criminal and civil penalties.

28. Critical Analysis
• Section 4 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 provides protection to
persons acting in pursuance of the Act against legal proceedings for
their actions done or intended to be done in good faith.
• The blanket protection from suits and legal action for all public
servants acting in pursuance of measures issued under the Act,
without qualification, is problematic.

29. Critical Analysis
• Ordinance only addresses Physical violence and damage to property
but remains silent on the multi-faceted threats such as
lack of safety and hygiene,
lengthy and inhumane working hours,
delay in payment of salaries,
cost of treatment in case of contracting the epidemic disease in the line of
duty, etc.
• Ordinance is left handicapped by absence of law under Entry 81 List
1 (i.e. Inter-sate migration, Inter-state quarantine) as threat of this
pandemic’s spread has seen large scale reverse-migration (from work
to home) of the labour force across the country.

30. Critical Analysis
• Amendment Bill modifies the powers of the Central Government under
the Act.
• While the original wording permitted the Central Government limited
action, the modified language elaborates these powers to include
measures for the inspection of any bus or train or goods vehicle or ship or
vessel or aircraft leaving or arriving at any land port or port or aerodrome,
as the case may be, in the territories
• Viewed as an encroachment by the Centre on the States’ mandate.
• India follows a system of governance that is neither purely federal nor
purely unitary

31. Critical Analysis
• Constitution of India clearly demarcates the responsibilities of governance
and administration to be performed by Centre and State in its Schedules.
• Under Schedule 7 of the Constitution, the subject of “public health and
sanitation” falls squarely under ‘List II- State List’. So does the regulation of
“offences against laws with respect to any of the matters in this List”.
• Provisions in the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020 which allow
the Centre to regulate the same appear to overreach the Centre’s
constitutional mandate.

32. Critical Analysis
• As the Act is silent on all these aspects it leaves no ground for the
public at large to hold the government responsible for any kind of
negligence on the part of the government in the court of law as there
is no proper mechanism on which the government can act on.
• The provisions give the liberty to the State Government to prescribe
temporary regulations which can be more of trial and error rather
than being rigorous measures to control the epidemic

33. Acts relied upon
by the Govt.:
COVID-19
• National Disaster
Management Act
2005 (deals with public
emergency):
Clearly defines all the
terms
Explicit description of
all the implementing
measures and agencies
to be instituted in the
event of any emergency.

34. Conclusion
• During this crucial crisis, a need is felt for consolidated, holistic, and
significant legal provisions to curb the outbreak in India.
• Although India has a number of legal mechanisms to support public health
measures in an epidemic situation, they are not being addressed under a
single legislation.
• The Epidemic Act 1897 is a century old blunt act which needs a substantial
overhaul to counter the rising burden of infectious diseases both new and
old.
• Our country has amended this Act to safeguard the life as well as the
property of the health service workers.

35. Conclusion
• Issues like definition of epidemic disease, territorial boundaries, ethics
and human rights principles, empowerment of officials, punishment, etc.,
need more deliberations and warrant a relook.
• Although each State has amended this Act as per their requirements ,there
was a need for the single enactment in which all the provisions are
assembled so that its implementation can be monitored.
• National Health Bill 2009 is still pending to be enacted. The National
Health Bill, which, if enacted can have a very positive effect to take
appropriate measures during the time of the epidemic.
• With COVID-19 crisis of today, our legislature should consider and
understand the difficulties faced by the government today and accordingly
enact a new and an effective legislation.

36. THANK YOU…..