PIL Moved Before Kerala High Court Against Order Revoking COVID-19 Curbs In Kasargod Ahead Of CPM District Meet

An advocate clerk has moved the Kerala High Court challenging the revocation of the Collector's order imposing restrictions to mitigate the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in the Kasargod district.

Earlier, the Chairperson of the District Disaster Management Authority had issued an order only allowing 50 persons in any public gathering, including political gatherings to mitigate COVID -19 cases.

The petitioner contends that this order was to be strictly complied as per the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

However, in a revised order issued on Thursday, it was stated that the restriction should not be based on the test positivity rate (TPR) but on hospitalization and the number of beds available in hospitals.

Meanwhile, this decision to lift restrictions came as a huge relief for the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which had scheduled its district meet to be conducted over a span of three days, starting today.

The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) moved through Advocates Ayyappadas, Vykhari K.U and Jayaprakash Narayanan contends that such withdrawal of COVID-19 curbs can potentially affect the health conditions of the people in the State.

The petitioner has added that he came to know through reliable media that the COVID-19 restrictions were compromised possibly to facilitate CPI(M) district meetings.

It has been argued by the petitioner that the Chairperson of the District Disaster Management Authority can only amend his orders on certain new circumstances for the purpose of prevention of disasters or their mitigation.

On the contrary, the order withdrawing restrictions was not issued for the purpose of prevention of COVID-19 and Omicron cases in the district, it was argued.

As such, it was prayed that the Court direct the Chairperson to ensure strict compliance to the initial order imposing Covid-19 curbs without any dilutions thereof and to prohibit CPI(M) from conducting their District Conference in violation of all protocols. 

Notably, the event which commenced today witnessed an attendance of more than 185 people. Reports suggest that most members were seen flouting the Covid-19 norms during the conference. 

Case Title: Arun Raj P.N. v. State of Kerala & Ors