Teesha
The Kerala High Court sought explanation from the Kerala State Government over its decision to conduct the oath-taking ceremony with above 500 invitees in the capital city where triple lockdown has already been imposed due to COVID.
The Division bench led by Chief Justice S Manikumar while considering the plea against the ceremony sought explanation over holding the event with such a large no of attendees despite of the situation under the pandemic.
The decision came after the petition was filed before the court to declare the ceremony of the new LDF government led by Pinarayi Vijayan on 20th May as ‘illegal’ alleging it to be violating the COVID protocols issued by the government itself.
The petition filed by advocate Arul Muralidharan contended that:
“The condition in Kerala is very bad. One of the reasons for the spread of COVID-19 was the uncontrolled gatherings during the assembly election.
Even though the State Election Commission had issued guidelines for conducting meetings of not more than 100 persons following the Covid protocol, political leaders including Pinarayi Vijayan had conducted public meetings in which thousands of people participated without complying with the conditions or guidelines issued by the Election Commission and Disaster Management Authority,”.
