'Not Afraid Of Any Political Colour' : Kerala High Court After State Holds All-Party Meeting To Remove Illegal Flag Masts

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday said that it was not intimidated by any political party after the State finally took a stance on the erection of flag poles and advertisements in public places after repeated court orders. Justice Devan Ramachandran orally observed that the city of Kochi underwent a substantial transformation after its intervention while clarifying that such orders were passed in the public interest and not to favour any political party. "This Court is not against any particular colour flag. It is not afraid of any colour either. The court orders are for the benefit of the people."This observation comes in light of the resolution taken by the State in its all-party meeting headed by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan which was held this Sunday. It was decided therein that while political, religious and cultural organisations should not be denied the opportunity to campaign, flags and advertisements of their events should not obstruct traffic or pedestrians.The meeting was held in the wake of several orders of the Judge against the erection of unauthorised flag masts at different parts of the State by political parties and other organisations. It was also resolved in the meeting that flag poles can be put up in private walls or compounds with the permission of the owners and without affecting traffic.The parties directed the Advocate General to inform the Court of the decisions taken in the meeting as the opinion of the public.When the matter was taken up, the Judge also expressed dissatisfaction with the report submitted by the Corporation for not answering the question of whether the flags installed in the city were given approval.The Single Judge was adjudicating upon a petition filed by a cooperative society represented by Advocate R.T Pradeep seeking police protection to remove flag posts that were allegedly put upon their property by political parties.In November 2021, the court passed an interim order directing that no illegal flag poles or masts be put up in the state while the issue was being examined by it and directed a survey be conducted to detect the number of illegal flag posts erected in the State without obtaining the requisite permission.Later that month, surprised by the results of the survey, the Court had issued strict instructions to the State to ensure that no new unauthorised flag posts are installed in the State and to remove the already existing ones within a period of 10 days.Thereafter, in December, the Judge had directed the respective District Collectors to initiate action against unauthorised flag masts in the State under the relevant provisions of the Kerala Land Conservancy Act.The State had then sought three months to draw up a policy to regulate illegal flag poles but when the matter was taken up in late February, it sought more time to prepare a draft. Enraged over the continued inaction of the State and the responsible authorities on the issue, the Court had reiterated that every flag post put up without the requisite permission is illegal and that influential people should not be allowed to get away with it.Case Title: Mannam Sugar Mills Cooperative Ltd v. Deputy Superintendant of Police

'Not Afraid Of Any Political Colour' : Kerala High Court After State Holds All-Party Meeting To Remove Illegal Flag Masts

Hannah M Varghese

Tags