The judge also asked Prime Minister Modi to ban political rallies in UP.
Highlights
- Court observed while adjudicating an unrelated bail application
- Court ordered to postpone upcoming UP polls a month or two
- Invoking Article 21, the judge said all Indians have the right to life
Allahabad:
The Allahabad High Court today asked the Election Commission to postpone the upcoming Uttar Pradesh council elections by one or two months. It also asks Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ban election-related gatherings in the state and to think about postponing state elections because of concerns about the highly contagious Covid variant Omicron. The court observed while adjudicating an unrelated bail application.
“If the protests are not stopped, the outcome will be worse than the second wave,” Justice Shekhar Yadav said, adding that,Jaan two toh Jahaan hai (if there is life, we have the world). “
The judge made these remarks after pointing out that the court is often crowded because hundreds of cases are listed daily and that social distancing is not followed by large numbers of people congregating there. “There is a possibility of a third Covid wave as cases of the new variant Omicron are increasing,” the judge commented. He then cited news reports about the number of Covid cases and mentioned countries that have enforced lockdowns.
“Gram Panchayat elections and Bengali Parliament elections have infected a lot of people, also caused many deaths,” the judge said. He pointed out that political parties are holding rallies and gatherings for the upcoming UP council elections and that following Covid protocols during such events is not possible.
Judge Yadav asked the EC to ban rallies and gatherings of any kind for council elections and direct political parties to campaign through Doordarshan or the press and not actual events. Citing Article 21 of the Constitution, he said that all Indians have the right to life.
Uttar Pradesh is perhaps the most acrimonious and politically significant election as it also has the most seats of the Lok Sabha, which plays an important role in general elections. All political parties have begun their major election push with star campaigners drawing huge crowds at various rallies in the state. The Prime Minister, Home Secretary, Secretary of State and leaders of all major opposition parties were seen dealing with large gatherings without scope for Covid protocols to be followed. . Several more protests are planned for the rest of the month and early next year.
The crowd without masks and the lack of Covid-appropriate behaviors during the elections sparked widespread criticism. As the number of cases of the highly contagious Omicron variant of the virus steadily increases, there are concerns that pre-election political protests will turn into more pervasive events that the establishment State health infrastructure may not be fully equipped to cope.
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