We Are Not Gods: SC Unamused at Plea to Ban Mosquitoes

“We cannot go to everybody’s house and say there is a mosquito or a house fly, so remove it,” said the court bench

The petitioner told the court that a similar plea was also dismissed in 2015 by the top court.

(Photo: The Quint)

"We are not Gods. Don't ask us to do things which only the God can do."

This is how the Supreme Court expressed its helplessness when a petitioner sought its directions to "abolish" mosquitoes from the country.

“We cannot go to everybody’s house and say there is a mosquito or a house fly, so remove it,” a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said. “What you are asking us to do, only the God can do. Do not ask us to do things which only the God can do. We are not Gods,” it said.

Rejecting the petition filed by one Dhanesh Ieshdhan, the bench said "there is a way to file a petition".

Also Read: Dengue, Chikungunya Are Preventable – Stop Pretending They Aren’t

Mosquito-borne diseases typically peak in the monsoon season. From sporadic cases of dengue in the 1960s, to widespread outbreak in recent times – the scale of mosquito-borne diseases appears to be growing every year.

Nearly half of the world’s population is at risk of malaria, more than a million people die every year from mosquito borne diseases – the human cost of mosquito bites is so massive that scientists have been itching to find a permanent solution to end these blood sucking, highly annoying, disease-spreading, flying jerks for decades.

Also Read: Mutant Mosquitoes Are Here To Wipe off Malaria!

When Ieshdhan sought framing of "unified guidelines to abolish mosquitoes which cause mosquito-borne diseases", the bench said, "we do not think any court can pass such direction to the authorities to eliminate mosquitoes from the country".

The petitioner told the court that a similar plea was also dismissed in 2015 by the top court, which had later, on its own, taken cognisance of the issue in the matter related to dengue and other vector-borne diseases in Delhi.

The petitioner also said that the government authorities should be made accountable for the loss of life due to such diseases.

Also Read: In the Battle Against Mosquitoes, Why Does Delhi Always Lose?

(With inputs from PTI.)