'Lakhs Of People Assembled Without Masks And No FIR; This Is Unpardonable' : Karnataka High Court To State

A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Suraj Govindaraj said "Now you must register FIR, there is no escape. There is an offence which is not compounded you. It cannot wait till it is compounded. Otherwise, everything including Supreme Court guidelines in Lalita kumari case is set at naught."

The court orally observed that "Lakhs of people assembled without masks and you are not registering FIR. This is something which is unpardonable. Initially we kept granting you time as you said law is being amended. Now the law is amended and there is no compounding and still you are saying we will not register an FIR. Unless there is an offence it cannot be compounded. As a matter of Law you must first register FIR and then do compounding, law permits you to do compounding you do compounding no difficulty about that."

During the hearing of a petition filed by Letzkit foundation, the bench indicated that "Suppose 100 to 200 people assemble at a place without wearing mask, they commit an offence under section 5 (1) of the the Regulations framed under the provisions of the Karnataka Epidemic Diseases Act, 2020. So compounding will have to be in the case of each offender."

It added "If there are 50,000 people, each of the 50,000 person has to come forward and compound the offence, whatever is the amount everyone has to pay. It cannot be that 10,000 people assemble without wearing face masks and you compound the offence against 1. Everybody commits offence under section 5 (1), that is the law."

The bench observed "It is a question of enforcing a rule regarding wearing of masks when the numbers are rising every day. Call it the second wave third wave, whatever wave you call it."

Earlier, the state government had informed the court that in relation to the rally held on February 21, penalty of Rs.10,000 has been imposed on Sri Vijayanand Kashappanavar, a Former MLA, the President of Akhila Bharatha Lingayat Panchamasali Mahasabha, Koodalasanghama, Hanagunda Taluk, Bagalkote District.

The bench had taken exception to it and said "The question is, whether in this case, the offence punishable under sub-section (1) of Section 4 of the said Act of 2020 is attracted, which is punishable as per sub-section (3A) of Section 5 of the said Act of 2020. If it is a case of violation covered by sub-section (1) of Section 5 of the said Act of 2020, criminal law will have to be set in motion. No doubt, Section 10 of the said Act, 2020 permits composition of the offences punishable under the provisions of sub-section (3A) of Section 5 committed before or after the commencement of the said Act of 2020 either before or after institution of prosecution. However, the offences can be compounded only by an officer authorized by the Government on payment of such amount as may be notified by the Government."

It had accordingly directed the state Government to take a definite stand whether in this case, the offence under sub-section (1) of Section 5 of the said Act, 2020 is attracted and if yes, whether the offence has been compounded in the manner provided under sub-section (1) of Section 10 of the said Act of 2020 as amended by the Karnataka Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Act, 2020. The State Government will clarify this aspect by filing an affidavit.

The court on Monday also issued notice to the state government on a petition filed challenging the compounding of offences under the Karnataka Epidemic Diseases Act.

The matter will be next heard on March 24