Kerala HC slams Wayanad 'hartals' by LDF & UDF, calls it 'unacceptable'

The Kerala High Court on Friday strongly criticised the ruling LDF and the opposition UDF in the state for their recent dawn-to-dusk hartals in landslide-hit Wayanad, saying it was "irresponsible" and wondered what they sought to achieve "other than mount more misery" on people. 

The court warned such conduct on the part of people's representatives which would tantamount to blatant violation of judicial directions "will not be viewed lightly". 

A division bench of justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and K V Jayakumar expressed displeasure over the hartal held in Wayanad on November 19 and termed it as "unacceptable". 

The bench said the two political outfits "cannot feign ignorance" of the directions issued by the High Court, prohibiting the calling of flash hartals without giving adequate notice to the public. 

"... it is not entirely clear what the said outfits sought to gain from the whole exercise other than mount more misery upon an already beleaguered section of our people. The undue harm that such insensitive actions caused to the image of this state as a tourism destination also cannot be understated," it said. 

The court questioned how the hartal could be justified and asked why the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF went for it. 

It also asked whether a hartal was the only way to protest and said the decision to hold it, in an area where a major disaster had occurred, was "disappointing". 

"We do hope that the ruling dispensation will ensure that the directions issued from this court prohibiting the calling of flash hartals will be scrupulously adhered to in future," the bench said. 

The LDF and the Congress-led UDF hartal was a mark of protest against the lack of central assistance for the landslide victims in the mountain district even months after the disaster. 

Both the ruling and the opposition blocs wanted the BJP-led union government to declare the landslide as a national disaster and provide required assistance for the relief and rehabilitation of the survivors at the earliest. 

The bench's observations came during the hearing of a plea initiated by the High Court for prevention and management of natural disasters in the state in the wake of the landslides that devastated three villages in Wayanad district that claimed over 200 lives. 

Meanwhile, the central government informed the court that the process of providing assistance for rehabilitation and relief efforts was going on. 

It said it has already allocated Rs 153 crore from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) to the state for emergency relief operations in the disaster-hit areas. 

The state government has estimated a loss of Rs 2,219 crore due to the disaster.