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Kerala High Court dismissed petition against Draft Regulation of Lakshadweep administration
Kerala High Court dismissed petition against Draft Regulation of Lakshadweep administration
June 18, 2021 , Kochi Kerala
The Division Bench of the Kerala High Court dismissed the writ petition challenging the draft of Draft Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation 2021 which proposed to the development of Towns on inhabited Lakshadweep Islands .
The Petition was filed by the secretary of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee KP Noushad Ali. According to him, draft regulation grants the power to declare any area to be planning area on the islands to the administrator for the purpose of development.
The contention of the petitioner was that the draft bill gave the sweeping powers to the administration and all its bodies to directly interfere with an island right to possess and retain their property. Draft regulation was widely opposed as it vested that the administrator with the powers to remove or usurp small holdings of property owned by the islanders.
The petitioner challenged the procedure to be followed for auctioning livestock on the islands and the decision to discontinue the service of the temporary staff engaged by the administration in the certain sectors.
The Petition was dismissed by the Bench comprising of Justice SV Bhatti and Justice Murali Purushothaman observed that the legality of the draft regulation was examined which was under the active consideration of the administration was completely premature. The Draft stipulation could not be challenged through a PIL(Public Interest Litigation).
The Court noted that it was settled that championing the cause concerning service matters by way of a Public Interest Litigation was impermissible and was unavailable on the ground that the petitioner was lacking the locus standi to question the legality of the decision.
The Petitioner was not satisfied by the affairs of the Lakshadweep Island to entertain the PIL (Public Interest Litigation).
On Tuesday, another petition was turned down by the Kerala High Court the plea for granting time for the Lakshadweep residents to inform their objections to reforms being carried out by the new administrator.
The Central Government had informed the court around 600 suggestions were received by the administration and they have been Conveyed to the Government.
A division Bench asked Lakshadweep administration to respond to the petition seeking free distribution of ration to the islanders in the COVID-19 restrictions by the Monday.
While the Court accepted the plea of the administration’s demand for more time said that grant the extension of time after Monday. It was alleged that the petitioner that a representation filed the administration to distribute ration as the livelihood of the islanders are affected by the COVID-19 and did not revoked any response.
The counsel represented the administration has submitted that the rice was distributed to the eligible persons and that there is nobody who was facing starvation in the Lakshadweep.
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