A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Thursday dismissed a public interest litigation challenging a government order allowing a gathering of up to 100 persons at places of worship.
The Bench comprising Chief Justice S. Manikumar and Justice Shaji P. Chali observed that the petitioners had not made out a case for declaring the order illegal. The petitioners had contended that the State government was not competent to allow congregation at a place of worship by fixing 100 as the limit, since there was an absolute bar on religious assembly in the guidelines issued by the Union government.The court said, “One will have to give a meaningful intent when the Central government has issued guidelines for opening activities in religious places/places of worships for public, whether a person belongs to Hindu/Muslim/Christian or any other religion.”
In exercise of the powers under Section 38 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the State government was empowered to frame guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the court observed.The contention that there was an absolute bar on religious assembly could not be accepted.
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The figures
The Additional Advocate General submitted that in places of worship, a maximum of 100 persons were allowed and worshippers had to maintain a physical distancing of six feet in such places. In fact, only 15 persons would be allowed in 100 sq metre. If 100 people were to gather, it should be at a 7,000-sq ft site.