Two students among 5 found guilty of violating lockdown norms

A magistrate court here hasconvicted five persons, including two college students, forviolating norms related to coronavirus-induced lockdown inMumbai and sentenced them to imprisonment till rising of thecourt, according to orders made available on Wednesday.

The judgements in the separate cases, related tolockdown period in April and June, were delivered last week,but orders were made available on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Metropolitan Magistrate A V Kulkarni found them guiltyof offences committed under relevant provisions of theNational DisasterManagement Act, which was invoked followingthe COVID-19 outbreak earlier last year.

The accused had voluntarily pleaded guilty byadmitting to offences and were sentenced to imprisonment untilrising of the court.

The court also directed them to pay a fine of Rs 1,000each.

''Rising of the court refers to a sentence for whichthe guilty is detained in a courtroom and made to sit forhours till the proceeding ends.

Among those convicted was one Sagar Shyamlal Thakur,who works as a housekeeper in a private company in SouthMumbai.

Thakur submitted before the court that he was headingtowards a mall in the area to bring food on the day of theincident.

Another accused, identified only as Dharmendra, toldthe court he had stepped out to bring garland to decorate anidol of a deity on the occasion of a religious festival.

A nationwide lockdown was imposed in March-end to curbthe spread of coronavirus.