'State Can't Be In Celebration When Citizens Are In Distress', Kerala High Court Says After Govt Cites Financial Crisis To Bear KSRTC Pension

Justice Devan Ramachandran said that celebrations were not important when the citizens of the state were in distress. The judge was implicitly alluding to the ongoing "Keraleeyam" celebrations organized by the State Government in Thiruvananthapuram. In the Order, the Court observed thus: 

“I close by reminding the respondents that the tear in one eye of the citizen of this state and the distress to a few of them should be sufficient to alert everyone and to be empathetic. You can’t expect the state to be in celebration even when one citizen is in distress. This is something that the authorities must keep in mind while administering a state like ours.”

The Court was dealing with two contempt of court petitions - one pertaining to the acquisition of land at Ambalamugal, and the other seeking timely payment of pension to the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation employees. 

The authorities who appeared before the Court today submitted that pension to KSRTC employees for the month of October, 2023 will be disbursed before November 30, 2023. It was also submitted that continuous support to KSRTC was becoming a burden to the State as it was going through severe financial crisis and was facing difficulties in managing everyday expenses. 

On Monday, the High Court expressed strong displeasure on the failure of the authorities to appear before it due to their “pre-scheduled engagements”. Chief Secretary, V. Venu informed the Court today that he was not able to appear before it as he was entrusted with the work of “Keraleeyam” Program and had to present seminars. The Court noted that the non-appearance of the Secretary on Monday was not a deliberate act but it also reminded the authorities that celebrations were not important when the citizens are in distress.

“One person in distress in Kerala, that shall be your first look out, that shall be your priority”, the Court orally stated.

The Court posted the matter for further consideration on November 30, 2023.

Case Title: K. Asokakumar v. Biju Prabhakar and connected matter and Sajeev Kumar V.N. v. V.P. Joy

Case Numbers: Contempt Case(C)Nos.2149 of 2023 & 2368 of 2023 AND Contempt Case(C)No.1024 of 2023