BENGALURU:The Karnataka High Court on Friday directed the state government to strictly implement the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued in view of COVID-19 and not to permit any political gatherings or protest or dharna in all districts of the state, as long as SOP is operational.
A division bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice Suraj Govindaraj passed the order after the court was informed that the state government issued an order banning the Mekedatu Padayatra on the theme 'Namma Neeru-Namma Hakku' following the observations made by the court on Wednesday and subsequently the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) suspended the padayatra for time being considering the pandemic situation.
Convincing about the submissions made by the senior counsel Uday Holla on behalf of KPCC and Additional Advocate General Subramanya, the court also disposed of the public interest litigation filed by AV Nagendra Prasad.
When the matter was taken up for hearing, Uday Holla submitted that they have suspended the padayatra, taking into account of the observations made by the court and also the increasing in number of Covid cases. However, the other political parties have not stopped gatherings and an MLA goes apologised for participating in such a event, he argued.
Additional Advocate General Subramanya submitted that the state government issued notice to KPCC to stop padayatra pursuant to order passed by the court and banned all political gatherings or dharnas or protests. Even directions have been issued to all district heads to strictly implement SOP dated January 4, 2022.
It may be noted that the court on Wednesday sought explanation from the state government how and why the padayatra was permitted when no permission was granted and also KPCC to explain what action it has been taken to adhere to the SOP issued by the government.