A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court led by the Chief Justice on Wednesday asked the State government to restrict the number of persons attending the swearing-in ceremony of the new Left Democratic Front government, to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
The court observed that the present pandemic situation would not permit any authority to conduct a government function, much less, even a swearing-in ceremony of the new council of Ministers, with such a large gathering of 500 people.
The court observed that “the surge of the COVID-19 pandemic is reflected in the statistics of the Government of Kerala. The purpose of the lockdown/triple lockdown was known to the government. That is why such stringent conditions are imposed on the public, applicable to all citizens. The restrictions should not be diluted, or in other words, altered by the government solely for the swearing-in-ceremony”.
The court asked political parties to take a decision as to whether all the MLAs were required to be present at the ceremony. It observed that the spouses and relatives of all the MLAs, except that of the Minister-designates, were not required to participate in the swearing-in ceremony. The ceremony could be viewed from the residence of the respective MLAs.
The Bench observed that “dignity will not be lost when the swearing-in ceremony was witnessed from home”. The court added that such functions could be conducted in a dignified manner even in the absence of many who were not part and parcel of the performance of the ceremony.
The court directed the State government to consider whether the presence of all special invitees, including members of the State committee of political parties, was required in view of the adverse situation prevailing due to the pandemic. The court made it clear that the directive applied to all special invitees, including persons who had contributed to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund.
The court passed the directives on a public interest petition filed against the decision to conduct the swearing-in ceremony with the participation of 500 people.
Mediapersons were barred from accessing the virtual sitting of the Division Bench when it considered the petition.
The court of the Chief Justice, which used to hold physical sitting, had decided to conduct the sitting via videoconferencing in view of the triple lockdown in the district. The mediapersons tried to contact the Registrar in-charge to obtain permission for joining the zoom conference but to no avail.
