The decision to form a panel to identify cases registered during the lockdown came at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Published Sep 30, 2022 | 1:12 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 30, 2022 | 3:01 PM
Kerala will withdraw cases registered for Covid-19 lockdown rule violations, like those for not wearing masks. (Creative Commons)
The Kerala government is set to withdraw minor cases registered for Covid-19 lockdown violations, which include those for violating mask-wearing and social-distancing rules in the state.
A high-level meeting regarding the matter was conducted on Thursday, 29 September. At the meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the participants decided to formulate a committee that would examine the cases to be withdrawn from the 1.40 lakh cases that were registered during the lockdown period in Kerala.
The actions by the Kerala Police in penalising the public were simultaneously hailed and hated. As people were struggling with hardships due to the lack of income and job losses, the fines that were collected contributed significantly to Kerala’s exchequer.
The Kerala government’s Law Secretary V Hari Nair told South First that the government would withdraw only the minor cases registered during the pandemic.
“We will scrap only the minor cases under the Epidemic Act, which was passed by the Kerala Assembly. We will decide which among the cases should be withdrawn under Section 321 of the CrPC. We have formed a committee where the law secretary, home secretary, and director general of police are the members. The committee will identify the cases,” said Nair.
He stated that as there were over 1 lakh cases, the committee would examine which ones could be wiped off the files.
When South First asked whether the fines collected would be given back to the “offenders”, he replied in the negative. “Instead of invoking compounding provision, we will be withdrawing the cases,” said Nair.
During the lockdown period, Vijayan, who is also in charge of the Home Department, was accused by the Opposition and the human rights activists of turning a deaf ear to the criticism of harsh penalties in the state.
According to a report published in the Times of India in March this year, the Kerala government raked in a whopping ₹350 crore by penalising those who violated Covid-19 norms in the state. The amount collected was for a period of two years.
One-fifth of the state’s population was fined, and the state earned ₹214 crore in fines levied solely for mask-wearing violations. The rest of the amount came from the penalties for violating quarantine norms.
Despite the relentless services by the Kerala Police, there were various complaints of human rights violations against them. In March this year, the Kerala Police apologised in front of the state human rights commission. The apology was made regarding an incident that occurred in Kannur in March 2020, where Superintendent of Police Yatish Chandra ordered a few men, who violated lockdown norms, to do sit-ups holding their ears.
As the news, along with the pictures and videos, of the incident went viral on social media, the human rights commission took suo motu cognisance, which led to the Kannur Range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police apologising to the rights panel.
