Relaxation of COVID-19 curbs during Bakrid: Kerala’s giving in to traders shows ‘a sorry state of affairs’

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said Kerala government’s choice to buckle under pressure from traders to open up shops for Bakrid in high COVID-19 infection areas shows a “sorry state of affairs” and “failure to protect the fundamental right to life and health”.

Pressure groups, religious or otherwise, could not interfere with fundamental right of life of citizenry, a Bench of Justices Rohinton Nariman and B.R. Gavai underscored.

Citizens were free to bring to the notice of the Supreme Court any “untoward spread of COVID” as a result of such government policies. Action would follow from the court, the Bench noted.

The court said it was “extremely alarming” that the Kerala government could have been coerced to relax restrictions in ‘D’ category areas where the infection rate was highest at 15%. “The relaxation in ‘D’ category areas was wholly uncalled for,” the court pointed out.

The Bench dismissed Kerala’s affidavit which “blithely” said the traders were in “misery” during the lockdown and were hoping to revive their businesses during Bakrid. They had even stocked up goods early. The court said to treasure goods over the lives of the citizenry during a pandemic showed a “sorry state of affairs”.

“The State government has given in to an association of traders (Vyapari Vyavasaayi Ekopana Samithi),” Justice Nariman observed.

The court dismissed the State government’s assurances that only customers who had taken at least one dose of the COVID19 vaccine would be allowed into the shops “as far as possible”.

“These assurances do not inspire any confidence in the people or the court and does not in any real manner safeguard the right to life and health guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution,” the Supreme Court observed.

The court ordered the Kerala government to “give heed” to the right to life and restrictions on movement during the pandemic. It asked the State to comply with the directions of the court given in a case concerning Uttar Pradesh’s initial reluctance to stop the Kanwar Yatra.

Senior advocate Vikas Singh, for applicant P.K.D. Nambiar, said Kerala decided to relax despite hosting the “biggest” number of COVID-19 cases in the country.

“The COVID cases in India is 30,000 only because of Kerala. The State allowed three days of relaxation of COVID restrictions despite a test positivity rate of over 10%. The rate in U.P. is just .02%… Someone should be made accountable. You are basically unable to govern the State… This is shocking,” Mr. Singh argued.

Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar and advocate G. Prakash, for Kerala, countered that the government’s decision was based on the “situation on the ground”. Mr. Kumar said the relaxation was given for three days between July 18 and 20. “Anyway it is ending today,” the senior lawyer said.

But the court specifically pointed to what happened on July 19. “In ‘D’ category areas, all these shops selling textile, footwear , jewellery, etc were enabled to function on July 19 despite the stringent restrictions placed in these localities,” the court said.