On Monday, the Supreme Court gave less than 24 hours to the government of Kerala to explain the reason behind the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions before Bakrid. SC also warned the government that any incident which would directly harm the lives of people would b viewed sternly and it would result in “prompt action.”
The order was given by the bench of Justice Rohinton F. Nariman and Justice B R Gavai. The bench of justices has asked the Kerala government to file an affidavit by evening. The first hearing of the case was posted on July 20, 2021, taking into consideration “the present situation and the celebration going on in the State.”
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Justice Nambiar said, “Kerala relaxed lockdown curbs on the occasion of Eid on the day the Prime Minister called for caution, Kerala has continued to throw up alarming numbers (of COVID cases) even while many other States have improved their situation.”
States like Uttar Pradesh and Assam have banned huge gatherings in view of festivals. Uttar Pradesh has banned the gathering of more than 50 people at a time and the government has also passed an order against animal sacrifice in public places. In the meeting, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered the officials to ensure that no cow, camel or any banned animal is sacrificed anywhere (in public). In a similar manner, Assam government has banned public gathering in view of festivals and have allowed only five people at a time for prayers at mosques.
On the other hand, the Kerala government has eased the restrictions, amid consistently high Covid-19 cases in Kerala, for three days for the celebration of Bakrid which falls on 21 July 2021.
During a press conference, Kerala CM Vijayan said that as Bakrid is here so shops selling textile, footwear, jewelry, home appliances and electronic items can operate on July 18 to July 20 from 7 am to 8 pm in category A, category B and category C areas and these shops would operate only on July 19 in category D area.
These categories have been divided according to the test positivity rate of the areas.
On Monday Uttar Pradesh government has informed the Supreme Court, “There will be no Kanwar Yatra at all, it has been completely postponed in 2021.”