Coronavirus: Congress MP from Kerala moves SC for opening of borders with Karnataka
New Delhi: The Congress MP from Kerala's Kasaragod, Rajmohan Unnithan, has moved the Supreme Court seeking direction to the Karnataka government to open its border with his state for smooth movement of ambulances and other emergency vehicles during the lockdown.
In his plea, Unnithan said that such a blockade is a clear violation of Articles 21 and 19(d) of the Constitution at a time when supply of commodities is itself hit hard and the entire country is fighting a medical emergency.
"This blockade has also resulted in cutting off the essential lifeline of National Highways and State Highways and major district roads leading to the State of Kerala, which has resulted in the shortage of supply of essential and non-essential items to the State of Kerala leading to shortage supply of food and medical supplies," his plea said.
Unnithan said the ill-planned and dangerous blockade has claimed the life of a 70 year old woman who was denied entry into Karnataka for urgent medical treatment only available at Mangalore.
"This is a clear case of violation of the right to life with dignity by the state as citizens are made to die on the roads because of the action of the state which is in total disregard to Article 21," he said.
The Congress MP said that his home constituency Kasaragod is the northern most district of Kerala, which shares most of its boundary with Karnataka and the Panvel-Kochi-Kanyakumari National Highway (NH-66) is passing through the district, connecting it with Mangalore, Karnataka.
"The people of Kasaragod in Kerala rely entirely upon the medical facilities of Mangalore District in the State of Karnataka and its adjacent areas.
As a result of this blockade two persons have already died as they were denied entry into Karnataka even for urgent medical treatment at a hospital in Mangalore," his plea said.
He added that Kerala being a consumer state, grocery items and vegetables come from Karnataka through roads and Highways connecting the Kasaragod and the Mangalore
"Now all the roads including the National Highways leading to the Karnataka state side are closed by the officials of the Karnataka State in the wake of the nation-wide lockdown against the Covid 19 pandemic which has resulted in stoppage of supply of goods and other essential items from the State of Karnataka to the State of Kerala," he said in his PIL.
His plea sought directions to the Karnataka government to open the borders with Kerala and in particular Kasargod-Mangalore border at Talappadi and allowing the movement of Ambulances and other emergency vehicles through the borders.
The petition also sought direction to Karnataka to allow the movement of trucks and other vehicles carrying essential and non-essential items to the state of Kerala.
The plea sought a direction to Karnataka to register an FIR and constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the supervision of the court to enquire against the authorities concerned including the police officials whose action led to the death of two citizens.
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HC questions Delhi govt over failure to regulate sale of old vehicles, refers to Red Fort blast
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court questioned the city government on Wednesday over its failure to regulate the sale and transfer of used vehicles, while pointing out that in a recent bomb blast near the Red Fort, a second-hand car was used, making the issue more significant.
A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela asked the Delhi government to file a detailed response on the issue of regulating authorised dealers of registered vehicles.
"A car changes four hands but the original owner has not changed. Therefore, what happens? That man (the original owner) goes to the slaughterhouse? What is this? How are you permitting this? You will take a call when two-three more bomb blasts take place?" the bench asked the Delhi government's counsel.
The bomb blast near the iconic Mughal-era monument was carried out using a second-hand car, making the issue even more significant, it said.
The court listed the matter for further hearing in January 2026.
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The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) plea filed by an organisation, Towards Happy Earth Foundation, highlighting the challenges in the implementation of rules 55A to 55H of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, introduced in December 2022 to regulate authorised dealers of registered vehicles.
While the rules were intended to bring accountability to the second-hand vehicle market, the petitioner's counsel argued that they have failed in practice due to regulatory gaps and procedural hurdles.
The plea said there is a major gap in the amended framework, that is, the absence of any statutory mechanism for reporting dealer-to-dealer transfers.
"In reality, most used vehicles pass through multiple dealers before reaching the final buyer, but the rules recognise only the first transfer to the initial authorised dealer.
"As a result, the chain of custody breaks after the first step, defeating the very purpose of accountability," the petition said.
It added that because of these gaps, only a very small percentage of dealers across India have been able to obtain authorised dealer registration and in Delhi, not a single dealer has got it.
Consequently, lakhs of vehicles continue to circulate without any record of who is actually in possession of those, it said.
The plea said only a small fraction of India's estimated 30,000 to 40,000 used-vehicle dealers are registered under the authorised-dealer framework.
The petition also pointed out that the 11-year-old vehicle used in the November 10 bomb blast near the Red Fort was sold several times but was still registered in its original owner's name.
The blast near the Red Fort had claimed 15 lives.
