HYDERABAD: Justice P Madhavi Devi of the Telangana High Court on Wednesday directed the State government to hold the 74th Republic Day celebrations and parade in the location designated by the State by duly following the standard operating procedures (SOPs) listed in the circular issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The court pointed out that the State government cannot declare that it cannot host Republic Day festivities because of the prevalence of Covid-19.The judge asked Advocate General (A-G) BS Prasad why Telangana was not hosting Republic Day festivities when all other States and Union Territories across the country were following the SOPs issued by the MHA. Furthermore, the judge asked the A-G to submit her orders to the State government for strict adherence.
Gadi Praveen Kumar, Deputy Solicitor General of India, representing the Union government, said the office memorandum dated January 18 was only regarding Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi while the MHA issued a release regarding celebrations in States and Union Territories across the country. He added that the A-G Prasad’s argument relied on the premise that the pandemic was still prevalent but wasn’t able to produce before the court any guidelines issued by the State government or any SOPs to be followed in any official function due to the Covid-19 situation.
Issuing notices to the State government and MHA, the judge said: “It’s not fair for the State to refrain from celebrating Republic Day citing the excuse of Covid -19. The State should celebrate Republic Day with a parade.”
The court observed that Republic Day has been celebrated by the Centre and States/UTs since 1950. However, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, certain restrictions were imposed. The High Court, Chief Minister’s Office, Raj Bhavan, and all other government offices would celebrate Republic Day celebrations separately, but the State government should do the same in accordance with the SOPs, the judge said.
Praveen Kumar said the Telangana government, in its circular issued on January 21, didn’t refer either to the January 18 office memo or the MHA letter, “Therefore, it is presumed that the instructions dated January 21 are issued by the Government of Telangana without considering the guidelines issued by the Government of India vide letter dated January 19,” he added.
Earlier, the A-G tried convincing the court that the lunch motion writ was politically motivated, that the SOPs were merely recommendations, and that hosting Republic Day festivities was the prerogative of the State. The judge, however, rejected the A-G’s argument that due to the prevalence of Covid-19, the State government had requested that Republic Day festivities be held at the Raj Bhavan.