The Supreme Court has termed the exemption of opening of shops given on the occasion of Bakrid in Kerala as regrettable. The court said that the state government has acted under pressure in this matter. The court on its part did not stay the notification of the state government. But said that the state government should follow its instructions given in the Kanwar Yatra case.
In the Kanwar case, the court had asked the UP government to give more importance to the right to life than religious sentiments. After this, the UP government canceled the permission given to the Kanwar Yatra.
The Supreme Court had yesterday sought a response from the Kerala government on the relaxation of 3 days to open markets on the occasion of Bakrid. Today was the last day of this exemption given for 18, 19 and 20 July. This exemption was defended in the reply filed by the Chief Secretary of the state. It was said in the affidavit that the lockdown cannot continue forever. This exemption has been given to give relief to the traders facing recession.
This affidavit was strongly opposed by Vikas Singh, counsel for petitioner PK Nambiar. He said, “Such an answer of a state with more than 10 percent corona positivity rate is absolutely wrong. The state government is also saying that it was under pressure from traders. Traders’ organizations were saying that they would not accept the lockdown. Will open shops recently. If the government takes decisions under such pressure, then they are not fit to govern.”
Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, appearing for Kerala, said that from June 15, offices and shops had started opening in the state. Based on the assessment of the circumstances, the exemption is being increased gradually but the Supreme Court was not satisfied with this answer. Justice Rohinton Nariman, who is presiding over the two-judge bench, said, “AAP has created 4 categories of areas. The relaxation which has been given to A category. The same suddenly has been given to D category. Whereas these are the areas in which The corona infection rate is more than 15 percent.
After this, the court, while writing the order, said, “It is a matter of regret that the state government has come under pressure from the traders’ organizations. It blindly accepted the fact that the shopkeepers will get the Covid protocol to be followed. The right should have been given importance. We are not canceling the notification of exemption from our side. The Kerala government itself should follow our instructions given in the kanwar yatra. Might knock on the door.