Kerala side alleges SC 'did not hear us' in inter-state border matter

The Kerala side on Tuesday alleged that it was not heard by the Supreme Court, before it closed the case related to Karnataka's blockade of inter-state border at Talapady.

Kasargod MP Rajmohan Unnithan, on the other hand, asked the court to take suo moto contempt action against the officials of the State of Karnataka for "gross violations of its order" as the state police still prevented ambulances with patients to cross over to Mangalore and returned them back.

The Congress MP, who filed a PIL, also asked the Chief Justice of India to list the case for "effective hearing".

He claimed the lawyers representing the State of Kerala or Karnataka and the other PIL petitioners were also not heard by the court.

Advocate Jose Abraham, representing one of the parties, said, "We were representing the petitioners in the case, and had a few substantial submissions, so disposing of the matter without hearing us including the State of Kerala have gravely affected not only the petitioners but also people of affected districts in Kerala."

The matter was heard by a bench presided over by Chief Justice S A Bobde through video conferencing.

The court went by a submission from Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that Kerala and Karnataka have agreed to movement of patients for medical treatment at the inter-state border, the counsel said. The border was reportedly closed after high incidence of Covid-19 patients were reported in Kasargod.

"We have been waiting since morning for the link to be shared for the hearing and we got to know the status of the case only from media," he said in a letter to the Secretary General, Supreme Court.

"Such incidents would seriously raise question as to the efficiency of video conferencing facility and will have serious repercussions for its continuance," he contended.

Adequate steps must be taken to ensure that all the concerned parties are given a free and fair hearing and are constantly updated on the developments, Abraham demanded.