Alarming State Of Affairs, Give Heed To Right To Life: What SC Told Kerala On Bakrid Norms

The Supreme Court came down heavily on the Kerala Government's decision to allow some relaxation on the COVID-19 restrictions in the state for the Muslim festival of Bakrid.

The apex court pulled up the state government for giving in to traders' pressure by granting relaxations ahead of Bakrid and said it disclosed a "sorry state of affairs".

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What SC said

A bench of justices R F Nariman and B R Gavai said that the citizenary of India has been laid bare to the nationwide pandemic by grant of such relaxations by the Kerala government.

"We direct the Kerala government to give heed to the Right to Life enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution," the bench said.

The apex court referred to a paragraph in the affidavit filed by the Kerala government and said it disclosed that the state has given in to associations of traders, which made a representation that they have stocked up goods for the purpose of Bakrid.

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¡°What is extremely alarming is the fact that in Category D where infection rates are the highest, a full day of relaxation has been granted,¡± it said.

¡°We state that this affidavit discloses a sorry state of affairs as has been stated above and does not in real manner safeguard the Right to Life and Health guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution¡± it said.

¡°We may also indicate that if as a result of this (relaxations), if any untoward spread of COVID-19 takes place, any member of the public may approach this court after which the court will take action accordingly. The IA is disposed of,¡± the top court said.

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The bench was hearing an application that raised the issue of relaxations granted by the Kerala government in view of the Bakrid festival.

The Kerala government had said that the relaxation had been on since June 15 and was nothing new. It also cited the hardships caused to traders due to the prolonged lockdown in the state.

The SC on Tuesday refuses to pass any punitive order against state authority for relaxing Covid restriction for three days as it is too late.

"There is no point. The horse has already bolted" the SC said.

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Lockdown troubles in Kerala

Amid the growing criticism from several corners including healthcare experts and the IMA that the current lockdowns in Kerala, solely based on the TPR of the area was unscientific.

Traders who had been dealing with financial difficulties due to the lockdowns had also declared war against the government and had announced to open the shop, defying the lockdowns.

Most cases in India

This comes even as the state continues to report the highest number of daily COVID-19 infections in India.

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With 9,931 cases in the past 24 hours, Kerala accounted for nearly one-third of the total 30,093 new coronavirus infections reported in India on Monday.

Last week the SC had told the Uttar Pradesh Government that it cannot go ahead with the plan to hold the Kanwar Yatra which is scheduled to start later this month.