Kasargod border entry: PIL disposed of on state's assurance

The High Court on Thursday disposed of a public interest litigation (PIL) on the assurance by the state government that no entry point between Kerala and Dakshina Kannada district will be closed.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka was hearing the petition filed by Subbayya Rai, an advocate challenging the order passed by the Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada restricting entry from several entry points in view of Covid-19.

During the hearing, the government assured the court that clause 3 of the recent order dated March 15 issued by the Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada district will not be acted upon. The clause authorized local authorities such as gram panchayats to close checkposts which are rarely used.

Initially, the petition was filed challenging the February 18, 2021 order passed by the Kasargod Deputy Commissioner, who is also the chairman of the District Disaster Management Authority. By this order, all entry points, except four, were closed for all kinds of traffic.

The bench said that as per the orders passed by the National Executive Committee, inter-state and intra-state travel cannot be restricted. Any localised restrictions could be imposed, pertaining to the production of RT-PCR test results while entering the state of Karnataka, the court said.

The petition said restrictions imposed by the Dakshina Kannada district administration had affected more than 80,000 people living in the border areas of both states.