SC says it won’t interfere with Karnataka order on RT-PCR
The Hindu
‘No curbs on movement of citizens from Kerala’
The Supreme Court on Friday made it clear that insistence by a State Government on negative RT-PCR results, for public health reasons, from people travelling in from another State cannot be construed as a “restriction of movement of citizens”.
The Constitution upholds a citizen’s fundamental right to move freely across the length and breadth of India.
However, a Bench led by Justice L. Nageswara Rao did not agree with A.K.M. Ashraf, a legislator from Kerala, who faulted Karnataka’s rule that people entering it from his constituency of Manjeshwaram at Kasargod district in Kerala should have a negative RT-PCR certificate taken within 72 hours of their trip. The lawmaker called it a violation of their right to free movement.
The fear of being caught for traffic rule violation has indeed compelled many two-wheeler riders to wear helmets. But one cursory look at riders at any traffic junction in Bengaluru shows that more than half the riders have on their heads non-standard helmets, designed solely to evade the eye of law, with little concern for the safety of their own heads.
When Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997, Beijing promised to retain the city’s Western-style civil liberties for 50 years. However, since the introduction of the 2020 law, Hong Kong authorities have severely limited free speech and assembly under the rubric of maintaining national security.