KOCHI: The High Court has imposed a cost of `25,000 on C L Anto of Chalakudy, Thrissur, for having filed a public interest litigation seeking a directive to the state and Centre to follow a Covid-19 protocol devised by him while evacuating those stranded in Gulf countries. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly observed that the petitioner’s pleas were misconceived and frivolous.
According to Anto, he had vast experience in evacuation from Kuwait during the Gulf War, and also in disaster management during earthquakes in Maharashtra and Kutch (Gujarat). He sought a direction to the governments to consult him to create a document similar to what he had prepared during the Kuwait evacuation to get compensation for Covid victims in Gulf countries. The bench said the petitioner had no right under any statute to demand governments to consult him to make a decision.