MP High Court launches FIR against Kamal Nath, Narendra Singh Tomar for breaching Covid protocols
Published by: Kanishk Sharma
Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh:
Madhya Pradesh High Court has ordered registration of FIRs against Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and state Congress president Kamal Nath for allegedly violating Covid-19 protocols in their election rallies held earlier this month in Gwalior.
Madhya Pradesh High Court’s Gwalior bench on Tuesday observed that the right to life and health took priority over the right to campaigning while hearing a petition filed by advocate Ashish Pratap Singh on the apparent violations of Covid-19 protocols during the election campaigning in the Gwalior Chambal region.
An interim order was passed by a division bench of Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Rajeev Kumar Shrivastava which ordered district collectors of Gwalior and Datia to launch FIRs against the two leaders — Kamal Nath and Narendra Singh Tomar and report assent in the next hearing.
As per the court’s direction to district magistrates of Gwalior and Datia ,cognizable offences against the violators will be registered including common participants, political and government functionaries in whose name or on whose behalf and in whose presence political congregations were held in the two districts on October 5.
Five FIRs had been registered in compliance with the court’s interim order of October 12 as submitted by state advocate general Pushpendra Kaurav before the court.
The High Court also restricted district magistrates of 9 districts falling in the jurisdiction of the Gwalior bench from permitting the clench on physical congregations of any number of people unless the political party applying for the same is able to satisfy that conducting virtual election campaign wasn’t within reach.
The court also observed that despite the permission from the district magistrate, physical congregations could only be held after the organiser deposits sufficient money enough to purchase masks and sanitisers for twice the number of people expected in the rally.