Kerala High Court Further Extends Interim Orders Till 13th July Amidst Ongoing Covid Restrictions

A full Bench of Chief Justice S Manikumar, Justice C T Ravikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly observed that considering the lockdown and the periodical government orders, it was indispensable to extend these orders till a further date.

Placing reliance on the recent Government Order dated 22^nd June 2021 and additional guidelines mentioned therein, the Advocate General Gopalakrishna Kurup submitted that the lockdown is still in force subject to certain variations in the criteria.

According to this Order, the Court observed that only a few places where the Test Positivity Rate was found to be lower were granted relaxations in the lockdown scheme. It was mentioned that stringent restrictions were still implemented in the other regions.

Considering the prolongation of lockdown and similar restrictions, the Court held that it was inclined to extend the interim orders up to 13^th July 2021. The matter has been posted on 12^th July for the next hearing.

This comes after a suo moto petition was filed before the High Court seeking an extension of interim orders and stays in custody orders given by Family Courts. The High Court had earlier extended the validity of these orders till 29^th June, considering that the Covid restrictions were still in place, affecting the normal court proceedings.

The effect of interim orders has been extended over time since May 19^th. Another suo motu petition had been filed with the same prayer previously, where the Court had extended till June 15^th. Kerala had witnessed a surge in Covid patients in May which led to a State-wide lockdown and its continuous extensions.