Legislative Failure in the Management of the Covid-19 Crisis: Identifying and Addressing the Lacune in the Extant Law

Legislation that is aimed at tackling a global pandemic such as Covid-19 should be equipped with a proper legal framework that empowers a government to take swift action in the name of the most cardinal function of all, protecting human life. However, this can be a tricky tool to devise. The empowering of the State to manage and control dire circumstances such as a raging pandemic would, in all likelihood, require superseding or suspending some of the basic rights of individuals in a society. Despite this, such laws are necessary for saving mankind in chaotic situations and are in the greater interest of society. India was not in the least prepared for a catastrophic event like COVID-19. The fact that the best recourse that we had to such a calamitous epidemic was a 123-year-old archaic law is frightening and indicative of the reasons the pandemic has wreaked such havoc in our country. The focus of this paper is to analyze the existing legal framework in India for dealing with a health care emergency like Covid-19 to identify the shortfalls therein. The research paper will also strive to provide recommendations on various provisions that an ideal law dealing with pandemics should provide for.