Kerala has reportedly recorded 22,129 fresh cases and 156 deaths of Covid cases yesterday. According to a report in the Times Of India it is the only state to record over 22,000 fresh Covid cases in a single day across India.

Kerala with just 3.5 crore population has 22,000 fresh Covid cases, while Uttar Pradesh with 24 crore population has reported only 36 fresh Covid cases in the past 24 hours. This speaks volumes about the state of administration in Kerala.

Kerala which boasts to have 100% literacy and a very modern communist utopian state, today singularly accounts for nearly 50% of fresh Covid cases in India!

Notably, the Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Rohinton Nariman had suo motu taken cognisance of a news report in the Indian Express stating that the Uttar Pradesh government planned to allow a very controlled symbolic Kanwar Yatra as the fresh Covid cases in Uttar Pradesh was the lowest in India and very much under control.

Justice Nariman came down very heavily on Uttar Pradesh government saying that right to life under Article 21 overrides right to religious freedom and bull dozed Uttar Pradesh government into voluntarily shelving its plan to hold a symbolic Kanwar Yatra.

The same bench of the Supreme Court failed to notice the press conference held by Kerala CPI(M) CM Pinarayi Vijayan on July 17th announcing relaxations for Bakra Eid allowing opening of textiles, footwear, jewellery shops, fancy stores, home appliances and electronic items stores from July18 to 20th from 7am to 8pm. All this happened right under its nose when it was zealously taking up Kanwar Yatra case.

Pertinently, when Pinarayi Vijayan ordered the relaxations for Bakra Eid, Kerala alone accounted for 36% of fresh Covid cases in India. Still the Supreme Court Justices were oblivious to this fact, wittingly or unwittingly.

Only when a Delhi based petitioner brought up the case of Covid relaxations ordered by Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan for Bakra Eid, Justice Nariman said, it was a “sorry state of affairs”. Justice Nariman headed bench did not order any ban on relaxations by deferring the hearing till 20th July and restrained itself from quashing Kerala government’s Bakra Eid relaxation orders by claiming “the horse has already bolted”.

The SC bench said, “It is an alarming state of affairs that the Kerala government has given in to the demand of traders to relax lockdown norms.”

The apex court ironically had post-facto relaxation of Covid norms in Kerala, perfunctorily ordered the Kerala State government to adhere to the same guidelines laid down by the court for the Kanwar Yatra! While the same bench suo motu zealously nixed the Kanwar Yatra even before the UP government made any formal announcement.

Shouldn’t the Supreme Court now take its fair share of the blame for exponential rise of fresh Covid cases to more than 22000 cases and over 156 Covid deaths in a single day in Kerala after Bakra Eid?

Would Justice Nariman now take suo motu cognisance of gross dereliction of duty and criminal negligence by the leftist CM Pinarayi Vijayan leading to rise in scores of deaths due to Covid in the aftermath of Bakra Eid relaxations?

The author doubts so. Perhaps for the “counter-majoritarian” SC it is more politically correct to sermonise CM Yogi Adityanath instead!

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