The Kerala high court on Tuesday disposed of a plea seeking the imposition of a statewide lockdown on May 2, the day assembly poll results are slated to be declared in five states and union territories, including Kerala. The Election Commission has banned all victory processions in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry on May 2, the day votes are to be counted. The decision to ban victory processions came a day after the Madras high court criticised the poll body as "the most irresponsible institution" for failing to implement proper Covid-19 guidelines during pre-poll campaigning. The high court bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy held EC officials "singularly responsible" for the second wave of the coronavirus disease, with Chief Justice Banerjee even remarking that the election officials should probably be "booked for murder". Kerala is currently one of the worst Covid-19 affected states in India.

Source: Hindustan Times April 27, 2021 10:41 UTC