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New Delhi, Apr 4: The Supreme Court on Friday urged Karnataka and Kerala to amicably resolve their issues concerning a border blockade that has choked the free flow of vehicles carrying essential items and patients in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Karnataka, which imposed the blockade, justified that its border was sealed to “combat the spread of the pandemic by preventing the movement of people from the bordering districts of Kerala to Karnataka”.

The State had moved the Supreme Court, challenging a Kerala High Court order on April 1 to open the border. Kerala has countered that patients from the State cannot be denied access to health care. Besides, the blockade has severely affected the supply of essential items, from medicines to food, to Kerala.

On Friday, a Supreme Court Bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Deepak Gupta urged the States to not confront each other in the midst of an unprecedented public health crisis. Instead, it asked the Chief Secretaries of both States to sit with the Union Health Secretary and iron out a solution. Meanwhile, the apex court urged Kerala not to take any precipitative action based on the High Court order.

The court issued notice to Kerala on the appeal filed by Karnataka, represented by advocate Shubhranshu Padhi. It listed the case for further hearing on April 7.

Karnataka, in its appeal against the High Court order, said the blockade was put in place in the interest of public health. The situation regarding Coronavirus was “really dire”, it said. It warned that opening the blockade would cause a law and order issue as its local population wanted the border to remain sealed.

Karnataka argued that Kerala was the “worst-affected” State in the country with nearly 194 coronavirus cases. In this, Kasaragod, adjoining Karnataka, was the “worst affected” district of Kerala with over a 100 positive cases.

MP’s plea

The court also separately considered a writ petition by Kasaragod MP Rajmohan Unnithan for an order to forthwith open the State border.

The parliamentarian, represented by advocates Haris Beeran and Pallavi Pratap, urged the court to issue an ex-parte stay on the operation of the blockade imposed by Karnataka with its border States.

Mr. Unnithan said Karnataka’s blockade was “ill-planned and dangerous” and had led to loss of lives. Two patients from Kerala, in need of urgent medical care, died after their ambulances were denied entry at the border by the Karnataka authorities. 

Bengaluru, Jun 28: The Karnataka government on Saturday issued an order, directing private hospitals not to deny treatment to patients with coronavirus and COVID-19 like symptoms.

"Non-compliance of this order will attract punishment under sections of Disaster Management Act 2005," an order read.

Meanwhile, people coming from Maharashtra will be placed in seven-day institutional quarantine followed by seven-day home quarantine in Karnataka, the state government said.

People coming from other states will need to undergo 14-day home quarantine.

Mangaluru, Jun 27: The second flight chartered by the Karnataka Sports and Cultural Club (KSCC) to repatriate stranded Kannadigas in UAE landed at Mangalore International Airport at 6 p.m. today.

The Air Arabia flight with 171 passengers took off from Sharjah international airport around 1 am (UAE Time). The flight had 18 pregnant women, 9 children, 3 infants, 8 senior citizens, 20 people with medical emergencies besides those have lost jobs, stranded visit visa holders and those who had reported deaths in their families.

KSCC had set up help desk to finalize list of passengers and guide them throughout the process. All the legal procedures were carried out smoothly.

KSCC president Mohammed Ismail accorded a warm welcome to all passengers. Rapid tests for Covid-19 were conducted before departure. Mandatory quarantine for all the passengers was arranged in three hotels in Mangaluru for a period of seven days.

KSCC office bearers Ismail, Javed, Safwan and volunteers were present at the airport during the time of departure. KSCC has expressed its gratitude to Consulate General, DC of DK district, Umar U H and Ataullah Jokkate for their support.