Prime Minister of India violates Rule of Law and Walks Free

 

In this article, we will talk about how the eminent leaders of our country especially Prime Minister violating COVID-19 guidelines when coronavirus positive cases are more than 2 Lakhs per day. On one side, they are imposing a fine and beating the common man for infringement and on the other side, they are violating COVID-19 guidelines and no action is taken against them.

COVID – 19 guidelines in Brief:

As per Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Order No. 40-3/2020-DM-I (A) dated 23^rd March 2021.

1.     Wearing a mask. (Mandatory)

2.     Maintain social distance i.e., 6 ft gap (2 gaz ki doori) in public places.

Cases of Violation:

Instance 1:

1.     Azamgarh case – On April 7, 2021, Ashish Goyal, Jewellery Shop owner, was not wearing a mask properly while he was in his shop. So, Police had brutally beaten Ashish for not following COVID – 19 guidelines. This incident was reported by NDTV on Prime Time by Ravish Kumar. The video of such report is given below.

 

2.     Indore case – On April 7, 2021, NDTV reported on Prime Time by Ravish Kumar that Krishna Kunjir, an Auto-Rickshaw puller, was beaten brutally by 2 Policemen for not following COVID – 19 guidelines. The video of such news report is given below.

 

3.  Tablighi Jamaat case – On April 2020, many Muslims were prosecuted for participating in Tablighi Jamaat, held at Nizamuddin Markaz Mosque in Delhi, against COVID – 19 guidelines.

 

Tablighi Jamaat is the group of conservative Muslims who gather traditionally at the headquarter, Nizamuddin Markaz, in the Nizamuddin West, South Delhi, India. In such gathering preachers of Islam impart education related to the core value of Islam, among Muslims. People from all around the world attend Tablighi Jamaat.

 

4.  Ramazan ban – In Uttarakhand on April 21, 2021, as per Para 2 of Order No. 60/USDMA/792(2020) all religious, social and political gathering have limit of 200 people except for the Kumbh Mela. Isn’t this violation of Art. 15 on the grounds of Religion? Isn’t this could provoke ‘Communal Violence’ among religion?

Instance 2:

1.   Kumbh Mela: On the occasion of Kumbh Mela, more than 40 Lakhs of the Hindus devotees gathered at the Haridwar, Uttarakhand to do Shahi Snan. Kumbh Mela started on March 11, 2021 and will continue till April 27, 2021. Uttarakhand C.M. Trivendra Singh Rawat has refused to put a stay on Kumbh Mela. Even when cases of coronavirus are surging day by day.

 

2.   Political Rallies: Political Parties in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry violated COVID – 19 guidelines while campaigning and no political party was prosecuted. The worst part is that Prime Minister, Home Minister of India, Chief Ministers of the abovementioned states and Union Territory were also part of such violation. They conduct various road shows without maintaining social distancing and wearing a mask.

 

Election Commission Guidelines related to COVID – 19 in the election:

• As per Para 1.1, every person should wear a mask during election-related activity.
• As per Para 1.3, Social distancing shall be maintained as per the extant COVID-19 guidelines of the State Government and Ministry of Home Affairs.
• As per Para 13.1, there should be only 5 persons (except security personnel, if any) who would do door to door campaign.
• As per Para 13.2, in the roadshow, there should be a gap of 30 mins after 5 cars.
• As per para 13.3, In the case of an Election meeting, District Election Commissioner should identify a place and put a mark at every 6ft in that place, before holding any election meeting, public gathering etc. Moreover, Nodal District Health Officer should be involved to ensure compliance with all the rules.
•  As per para 13.4, anybody violating instructions on COVID-19 measures will be liable to proceed against as per the provisions of Section 51 to 60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, besides legal action under Section 188 of the IPC, and other legal provisions as applicable
  

 

Aforementioned cases show clear violation of COVID -19 guidelines which is evident from the photos given above. Isn’t these incidents are ‘Super Spreader’? But nothing has been done. Election commission, on April 09, 2021, only threaten to ban rallies in it's letter to all recognised state and national political parties.

Author views:

Instance 2 is a grave violation of the Rule of law and Right of Equality. Rule of Law and Right of equality are those Pillars upon which our whole Law System is built. In the case of the I. R. Coelho v. State of Tamil Nadu – (2007) 2 SCC 1, Coram of the 9 judges held that the Equality and Rule of Law form parts of the basic structure of the Constitution.

Rule of law is the principle which states that no man is above law and also that every person is subject to the jurisdiction of ordinary courts of law irrespective of their position and rank. Rule of law is no were mentioned in the Constitution of India, 1950. But still, the Supreme Court of India in a catena of cases upheld Rule of law as a basic structure of the Constitution of India.

Right to Equality is mentioned under Art. 14 and Art. 15 of Constitution of India, 1950. Art. 14 states that everyone is equal before the law. Even, Prime Minister, Home Minister of India and Chief Ministers are same as a normal person is from the eyes of the Law. Art. 15 prohibit any discrimination on grounds of religion, sex etc. As we see in Instance 1 para 4 (Ramzan ban), where one religion is restricted from the celebration of their festival and on the other side another religion is free to celebrate. Muslims should also be allowed to celebrate Ramzan with COVID guidelines. In the same way as in election commission rule in Para 13.3 regarding political rallies. In every Mosque, a mark at every 6ft should be made so that devotee can stand there and do their prayers. In this way, safety will be ensured and they will be able to celebrate their festival, also.

As we see in Instance 2, there is a grave violation of the COVID – 19 guidelines and the worst part is that such violation is done by the Prime Minister of India, Home Minister of India and Chief Ministers of the polling states as well as Uttar Pradesh CM. This gross violation is happening when India is recording more than 2 Lakhs Coronavirus positive cases every day and deaths due to coronavirus are also rising. The more sad part is that the election in West Bengal is still left and all the political parties are campaigning without caring for COVID – 19 restrictions.

I want to request the Election Commission of India and other concerned authorities, to punish each person according to the law of land equally whether it is a normal person or Prime Minister of India. Prime Minister of India, Home Minister of India and Chief Ministers of the polling states should be punished strictly, even stricter than a normal person to put the best example that law is same for everyone, no matter whether he/ she is PM or normal person. In order to uphold and strengthen pillars of the constitution of India i.e., Rule of Law and Right to Equality and set a great example for the people of India as well as for other countries.

As of April 10, 2021, Norwegian Prime Minister, Erna Solberg, was fined Rs. 1.75 Lakhs by the Cops for Breaking COVID restrictions. She organised her 60^th birthday party for the family and no. of people at the party exceeded the restricted limit which is 10 and the people present at the party were 13.  The cops, there, said that they would have fined much less if there was a common man in her place but since the violator was PM that’s why we have imposed such a hefty fine.

Appeal: Other festivals such as Ramadan, Navratri are also going on. It is a humble request to all the devotees to celebrate their festivals but keep in mind COVID restrictions and think about your family.

Stay Safe, Stay Healthy

Author: Satwik Sharma

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