Member of Parliament, Mr. Rajmohan Unithan has written a letter to CJI complaining against the disposal of the Kerala- Karnataka border case alleging that he himself along with other petitioners were not given opportunity of hearing in the case.
Mr. Unithan is MP (Lok Sabha) from Kasargod Constituency and is the petitioner in the case, matter pertains to the blockade imposed by the state of Karnataka resulting in problem faced by the residents in Kasaragod District, in Kerala, who were prevented from travelling to Mangalore, in Karnataka, for urgent medical treatment from state of Kerala seeking medical relief in hospitals situated in the state of Karnataka.
Earlier today, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Union of India informed the Supreme Court that a meeting had been convened by the Ministry of Home Affairs with the Chief Secretaries of Kerala and Karnataka where the secretary of Karnataka govt. agreed to allow passage of vehicles carrying patients not infected with COVID-19 from Kerala to hospitals at Mangalore for their treatment and that basis the court disposed of all the connected cases without hearing the counsels appearing for the petitioner.
Mr. Unithan in his letter mentioned “…even as on today, after watching the television at 1 PM and after speaking to the reporters who are at the border, the Karnataka police is still preventing ambulances with patients to cross over to Mangalore and returning them back.” He also called this act as gross violation of the order passed by this Court.
The petitioner has requested the court to take suo moto contempt action against the officials of the State of Karnataka, and also mentioned that the issue of allowing the trucks and other vehicles carrying essential and non-essential items to Kerala was not brought to the notice of the Court. Mr. Unithan has requested the Court to list this case again for an affective consideration of both the issues.
-India Legal Bureau