Do you want to prosecute persons who participated in political rallies without wearing masks? Karnataka HC to State Govt

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday asked the State Government whether it was inclined to prosecute those persons who had participated in various political rallies without wearing masks during the COVID-19 pandemic..The court posed this question after it noted that no stringent action was taken against the “political class” even after they violated Covid-19 guidelines by not wearing masks or adhering to social distancing norms..In this regard, the order passed by Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Vishwajith Shetty reads,."Now the question is why State has not set criminal law in motion against the violators as of today. If the concerned persons have paid fine, they have admitted that there are violations and therefore, the failure of the State of prosecute them has very serious consequences. The State Government must take a call and make statement before the Court on the next date,"the High Court said..The Court was hearing a plea alleging that the National Directives for COVID-19 Management, part of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) guidelines, were not being followed in Karnataka..Have you collected fines from MP Tejasvi Surya for not wearing mask: Karnataka HC asks State Govt .During one of the earlier hearings, the Bench had been informed that a fine of Rs. 250 was imposed on Member of Parliament, Tejasvi Surya for not wearing face mask while attending a political rally in September..When the matter was taken up for hearing on Thursday, the court was informed that the State Executive Committee (Committee) under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 had issued an order on September 30, which contained a specific directive regarding compulsory wearing of face covers or masks in public places, workplaces and maintaining a distance of 6 feet between persons..It was further pointed out that the Committee had directed imposition of fine of upto Rs. 250 for violation of the directive..However, expressing utmost dissatisfaction on the measures taken to curb COVID-19, the Bench questioned the State on the effect of collecting spot fines from violators for not wearing masks..“In case of the political rally in September, somebody woke up from deep slumber and collected fine of Rs 250 (from MP and Advocate Tejasvi Surya) after two months," the Bench remarked..This apart, the Court was informed that Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has not paid salary to 198 marshals for the past two months. The Marshals are in charge of ensuring that all the social distancing rules are being followed by the public..Shocked by this revelation, the court directed BBMP to pay up all pending dues to the Marshals by tomorrow.

Do you want to prosecute persons who participated in political rallies without wearing masks? Karnataka HC to State Govt

Rintu Mariam Biju

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