In view of the COVID-19 spike, the Kerala High Court has issued an order banning all conferences attended by more than 50 people in Kasaragod district. On Thursday, the district collector also issued an order restricting public meetings. But within two hours, he had withdrawn this order. The HC issued the interim order banning all conferences while considering a Public Interest Litigation which questioned the collector’s move.
As per the interim order, the district collector should ensure that more than 50 people are not attending any conferences in the district. The order will be in effect for a week.
The central government has capped the number of attendees even in Republic Day celebrations. Then why did political parties get special consideration, asked the HC.
A strong protest is being raised against CPM district conferences amid the surge in COVID-19 cases. In this background, the High Court has issued an order banning all conferences attended by more than 50 people.
Meanwhile, the CPM Kasaragod district conference commenced on Friday.
Amidst this, CPM has decided to shorten the district conferences to a two-day long event. Hence, conferences at Kasaragod and Thrissur will be concluded on Saturday. In Thrissur, the CPM district committee also cancelled the virtual public meeting.
In the PIL moved to HC, the petitioner alleged that the district collector had withdrawn the order on restrictions for conducting the CPM conference. A clerk of a lawyer in Thiruvananthapuram filed the petition before the HC.
A division bench of the High Court considered the plea.
The lawyer who appeared for the government argued that 150 people are allowed in an event held in an open space. But the court dismissed this argument and questioned the logic of the guidelines.
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