States are free to impose night curfews from December 1: Centre

Night curfews will likely be back in vogue from December 1 in a number of States. As against blanket lockdowns, States will go for local lockdowns, imposing strict restrictions from night till morning.

From December 1, States can impose local restrictions, including night curfew, till December 31. However, if a local lockdown has to be imposed outside the containment zones, prior approval of the Centre has to be secured.

In this regard, Punjab has already announced that night curfew from 10 pm to 5 am in all cities and towns will be implemented from December 1 for a period of 15 days.

Night curfews have come in for criticism. Senior journalist Shekhar Gupta described it as a new addition to the list of The Great Indian Absurdities. He wrote, “It is the latest competition among the states to impose night curfews to fight Covid. Only the Indian establishment could’ve conjured up a link between the virus & the night.”