The State government on Friday told the High Court of Karnataka that it was contemplating modifying the guideline imposing restrictions on people entering Karnataka from Kerala by road.
A submission in this regard was made by the government counsel before a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice S.Vishwajith Shetty during the hearing of a PIL petition filed by B. Subbaya Rai, a Mangaluru-based advocate.
The petitioner had complained that 23 out of a total of 27 roads connecting the two States are closed in view of the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in Kerala though there is no travel restriction between the States in the guidelines issued under the Disaster Management Act by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Counsel for the Union government clarified to the Bench that the MHA’s guideline removing all restriction on travel between the States are in force as notified in January 2021 and the States have to keep the roads open.
Negative report
As COVID-19 negative report is mandatory for people entering from Kerala as per Karnataka’s guideline, the Bench orally said that Karnataka government can create infrastructure for checking for COVID-19 reports as the roads cannot be closed per the MHA’s guidelines.
As government counsel sought time to inform the court on modification, the Bench adjourned further hearing till March 9.
