An Australian court yesterday agreed to hear a challenge to the country’s controversial ban on citizens returning home from COVID-19-hit India.
A federal court said that it would urgently hear a challenge brought by a 73-year-old man living in Bengaluru who wishes to return to Australia.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison this week banned arrivals from India, which is recording hundreds of thousands of new COVID-19 infections each day.
Under the measures, Australian citizens who return home face jail time and heavy fines.
The move has caused widespread outrage, with Morrison’s own allies describing it as racist and an abandonment of vulnerable Australians overseas.
The conservative government has argued the ban is necessary to prevent Australia’s quarantine facilities from being overwhelmed by arrivals from India infected with COVID-19.
Christopher Ward, the lawyer representing the 73-year-old man, said that “he is a gentleman who wishes to return to Australia, and his return is currently prevented.”
The case is challenging the ban on several grounds of constitutionality, “proportionality and reasonableness,” Ward said.
Justice Stephen Burley ordered that a further hearing date would be set in the next 24 to 48 hours.
Australia has no widespread community transmission of COVID-19, but has seen several outbreaks emerge from hotel quarantine facilities, causing disruptive city lockdowns.
There are estimated to be about 9,000 Australian citizens in India, including high-profile cricketers playing the now-suspended Indian Premier League.
Morrison on Tuesday refused to amend the ban, but insisted it was “highly unlikely” the punishment would ever be meted out. The ban is scheduled to run until Saturday next week.
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