COVID: Kerala HC bans all political protests in public places till July 31
Jul 15, 2020
Kochi (Kerala) [India], July 15 : The Kerala High Court on Wednesday banned all political protests in public places until July 31 in view of the COVID-19 pandemic and noted that the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police (DGP) will be held responsible for any such protests.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly issued the order after considering two petitions highlighting the ongoing protests in violation of the restrictions imposed in a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19.
"In view of the directive issued by the Centre as well as the state governments, and the decisions referred to above, we deem it fit to direct all political parties and associations, including respondents 5 to 10, to strictly abide by the same," the bench said in its order.
Political parties including CPI-M, Congress, BJP, LDF, UDF, and NDA were named as respondents 5 to 10 in the petition respectively filed by advocate John Numpeli Junior.
"The government is also directed to take preventive measures to ensure that no political party or association shall violate the directives issued by the Governments and the judgments of the apex court. If any protests will stage by violating this, the chief secretary and DGP will be responsible," the order said.
