The Kerala High Court, in a special sitting on Sunday on a case taken suo moto, ruled that all those Keralaites who are stuck in various parts of the country after the lockdown came into effect, must have an entry pass of the Kerala government to come into the state.
The court decided to take up this issue after reports surfaced that 135 Keralaites, who did not have an entry pass from Kerala, were stuck at the Walayar check post in Palakkad district on Saturday.
Their entry was denied as they only had a pass from their starting point and did not have the pass from their District Collectors concerned here.
After they failed to get entry, the Kovai Collector intervened and gave them accommodation.
While the court ruled that all the 135 people who were denied entry on Saturday should be allowed to enter, it said that there would be no relaxation henceforth and everyone should have a pass from where they start their journey and one from the district authorities of their destination.
The court held that what the state government is doing is right as these are all extraordinary situations and any relaxation in rules will be detrimental to all.
The state government informed the court that over 2.31 lakh Keralaites have registered on the Norka-Roots web portal and are waiting to enter as they were held up in other parts of the country, when the lockdown was announced on March 24.
All those who are coming from red spot areas will have to go under institutional quarantine and others who do not have symptoms can go to their homes and will have to be in isolation for two weeks.
( With inputs from IANS )