[BREAKING] Kerala High Court allows physical swearing-in of LDF government subject to COVID-19 protocol

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday declined to set aside the decision to hold a physical oath-taking ceremony to swear in Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to office (Chikitsaneethi v. State of Kerala)..The Court has, however, urged the Kerala government to consider reducing the number of participants for the physical function slated to be conducted tomorrow.."Though States like West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, with more number of Legislators in the Assembly have performed the Swearing-in Ceremony with lesser number, Government of Kerala, a forerunner in Covid-19 management, should restrict the number to the maximum to avoid the widespread COVID-19", reads the order..A Bench of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly has also stated that the families of the MLAs invited to the ceremony should refrain from attending the function. .Moreover, the Court has called for the government to ensure that COVID-19 protocol is strictly maintained. .The Court today heard a plea moved by NGO Chikitsaneethi, which works in the area of public health, against the physical swearing-in ceremony, given the COVID-19 situation in the State.. Amid rising numbers of COVID-19 cases, the government had recently imposed a State-wide lockdown to curb the spread of the disease. In this backdrop, the government decision to hold a physical oath-taking ceremony with 500 partipants has triggered controversy. .The plea by Chikitsaneethi said that physical swearing-in with such large gathering of 500 people is not necessary and there is no legal obligation on the government to hold such an event..The Court, however, found that it was not inclined to interfere with the government's decision and confined to directing that COVID-19 norms should be strictly maintained. The Court had asked for the State's response in the matter by 1.45 pm, this afternoon. The order was passed after hearing the matter further, later in the evening. .The order passed today states:All the Covid protocols/guidelines/circulars/notifications issued have to be adhered to or strictly followed by the State Government while conducting the Swearing-in Ceremony. Political parties shall take a decision as to whether all the MLAs are required to be present in the Swearing-in Ceremony. The spouses and relatives of all the MLAs, except the designated Ministers, are not required to participate in the Swearing-in Ceremony. The ceremony can be viewed from the residence of the respective MLAs. Government officials required for the performance/ participation in the ceremony alone shall be permitted. As the Government have not come out with the details of special invitees, other than the Judges, Secretaries to the Government up to the level of Principal Secretaries, Police officials up to the level of Additional Director General of Police, Senior Law Officers, stated supra, Chief Secretary, Government of Kerala shall consider whether the presence of all the special invitees, including the member of the State Committee of the political parties are required to be present, in view of the utmost adverse situations prevailing due to the pandemic. This direction applies to all the special invitees including persons who have contributed to the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund. .The swearing-in of the Pinarayi Vijayan-led ministry is slated to take place on May 20 at the Central Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram and is likely to be attended by 500 people..This has met with stiff opposition from various quarters since the State is currently under strict lockdown due to COVID-19 spread. .A petition was also filed before the Supreme Court on Tuesday seeking ban on the upcoming public swearing-in ceremony saying that the event might end up being a "super spreader". .That petition by activist KM Shahjahan sought directions to the Kerala government to abide by the Covid -19 protocol and ban all public gatherings, political and religious functions, agitations and protests..Shahjahan also prayed for a direction to be issued to the Central government and all the States to issue a uniform Standard Operating Procedure strictly banning any kind of public gathering with more than fifty people for a minimum period of one month..[Read the Kerala High Court Order]