ABSTRACT
Covid 19 is the first pan India disaster after 2005, when the Disaster Management Act was enacted. It is the true test of the machinery for disaster management in general and law in particular. Covid 19 brought into picture a century old law Epidemic Diseases Act and an unknown important law Disaster Management Act 2005 (hereinafter referred to as DM Act). Suddenly, people became aware of the Disaster Management Act and questions were raised about its status of implementation and effectiveness. Besides, questions were raised about the governmental mechanism relating to Covid 19 and the DM Act.
It also resulted into active involvement of both executive by way of delegated legislation and judiciary; both Supreme Court of India and the High Courts in different States, to protect the rights of people by way of suo-moto petitions and writ petitions. This resulted into generation of a credible body of disaster management law jurisprudence.
This article looks forward to evaluation of this recently evolved jurisprudence in Disaster Management Law
