A 20-year-old man held for defying lockdown norms learnt the fallout of his act the hard way after the sessions court agreed with a lower court’s decision to deny him bail. The youth was among six arrested by the JJ Marg police for playing cricket without a mask on April 4. The sessions court said the youth’s conduct amounted to a violation of the Disaster Management Act, and Section 144 that has been imposed to check the spread of COVID-19 in the city.

The metropolitan court first denied the man bail after he was booked for non-bailable offences. Lawyers and legal brains sided with the order by Additional Sessions Judge Abhijeet Nandgaonkar, saying that the need of the hour is to follow restraint and adhere to directives issued by authorities that have been enforced in Mumbai as well as across the state.