Collecting compounding fee from those charged with violating the lockdown is likely to be a tough task for the government as the police are confused over the appropriate provisions to be invoked against such offenders.
Even though the government promulgated the Kerala Epidemic Diseases Ordinance, 2020 giving extraordinary powers to the district administration to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak, including restrictions on essential services, many are still being booked under the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897, which can be easily challenged through a discharge petition.
Special order
Station house officers say they will be able to register cases under the new Ordinance only on a special order from the District Collector concerned. In most of the districts, such an order is yet to come, compelling the police to book the offenders under the old Act. They also argue that the promulgation of the new Ordinance has literally made the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 invalid.
A station house officer in Kozhikode city says the delay in issuing a district-level order directing the police to charge cases only under the new Ordinance will cause huge financial loss to the government as collection of already imposed fine may be challenged by the majority of offenders in court taking advantage of the loophole.
“We have already come to know the attempts of some lawyers to support their defendants with this option,” he says. Personnel attached to various stations say registering cases under the Disaster Management Act too will not result in any tougher action against the violators.
On most occasions, cases are registered under Section 188 (disobedience to order promulgated by a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code, which is a too lighter provision. Kerala has so far witnessed over 40,000 cases apart from the seizure of over 30,000 vehicles in connection with the violation of the lockdown regulations.
Therefore, the fine amount too will be a hefty sum compared to the other States.
According to police sources, a top-level discussion is on to tackle the method of handling the already registered cases in such a way to make the offenders accountable for the payment of fines.
