SC seeks Kerala govt’s response in petition against three-day Bakrid relaxation

The Supreme Court, on Monday, July 19, asked the Kerala government to file its response during the day on an application against the three-day relaxation in COVID-19 restrictions in the state in view of the upcoming Bakrid festival. On July 17, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had announced some relaxation in the lockdown restrictions for three days in the state in view of Bakrid (Eid-ul-Azha), which will be celebrated on July 21.

Kerala is one of the states with the highest number of COVID-19 cases. As part of the ease of lockdown restrictions, the state government allowed textiles, footwear shops, jewellery, fancy stores, shops selling home appliances and electronic items, all types of repairing shops and shops selling essential items to open on July 18, 19 and 20 from 7 am to 8 pm in category A, B and C areas. In D category areas, these shops can function only on July 19. Kerala has been divided into four categories — A, B, C, D — depending on the test positivity rate (TPR), which refers to the percentage of people in a group testing positive for the virus and indicates the rate of transmission.

The matter came up for hearing in the Supreme Court before a bench of Justices R F Nariman and B R Gavai. The application was filed in the matter in which the apex court had last week taken suo motu cognisance of media reports on the Uttar Pradesh government's decision to allow Kanwar Yatra amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The application, which raised the issue of relaxation in restrictions in Kerala, for intervention in the suo motu matter was filed by Delhi-based PKD Nambiar, who has sought a stay on the state's decision.

The application, which raised the issue related to Kerala, said that the act of the Kerala government is “nothing but politically motivated. This court may also be pleased to seek an explanation from the state government as to what medical advice, if any, was the decision made.

Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the applicant, told the bench that COVID-19 positivity rate in Kerala is over 10% but despite that, restrictions have been relaxed for Bakrid. He said that Kerala is among the states with the highest number of COVID-19 cases at present (125041)and it has a high positivity rate (10.46% as on July 17).

The counsel appearing for Kerala said that some shops in some areas have been opened in the state to facilitate the festival. The state's counsel said that Kerala comes out with data of COVID-19 cases daily and is following all the guidelines issued by the Union government.

Earlier, the opposition Congress and the Indian Medical Association (IMA) had warned of legal action against the decision to relax COVID-19 restrictions in view of Bakrid festival. In a tweet, Congress National Spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said if Kanwar Yatra was wrong, then so were the relaxations for Bakrid, especially in a state that is currently one of the "hotbeds" for COVID-19 infection. "Deplorable act by Kerala government to provide three-day relaxations for Bakra eid celebrations, especially because it is one of the hotbeds for COVID-19 at present. If Kanwar Yatra is wrong, so is Bakra Eid public celebrations," he tweeted.

After the counsel appearing for Kerala said he would file a reply to the application, the bench asked him to do so during the day and said it would take up the matter for hearing as the first item on Tuesday, July 20.