NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the famous Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath Temple, Puri in Odisha scheduled to commence June 23 in view of rising number of Covid-19 patients.
“A procession of this magnitude cannot be permitted at the time of a pandemic… Lord Jagannath will not forgive us if we allow this to continue,” a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde said while ordering a ban on all activities related to the Rath Yatra 2020.
“We consider it appropriate that in the interest of public health and safety of citizens to restrain the Respondents from holding the Rath Yatra this year. We direct that no Rath Yatra will be held in the temple area of Odisha”, said the Bench—which also included Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice AS Bopanna.
The Puri Rath Yatra festival—which attracts a large number of Indian and foreign tourists—is attended by lakhs of devotees and goes on for almost 20 days. Last year an estimated one million people had taken part in it.
The order came on a PIL filed by Odisha Vikas Parishad seeking this year’s festival in view of Covid-19 which has already claimed more than 12,000 lives in India.
The petitioner NGO said all the rituals leading up to the Rath Yatra such as ‘Akshay Trutiya’ and ‘Snana Purnima’ had been allowed to be performed by the Odisha government. If Rath Yatra might was allowed, it will have catastrophic impact, the NGO submitted.
On behalf of the petitioner, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi said such a huge congregation of nearly 10 lakh people can’t be permitted during a pandemic.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, wanted the court to allow some rituals but it was opposed by senior Advocate Harish Salve who appeared for the state government. Salve cautioned against dangers of such a congregation.”
“We have experience that anytime something is allowed, people gather,” the Bench said and went on to order stay on the Rath Yatra.
It cited the example of Tablighi Jamaat’s religious congregation held in March in Delhi that had led to spike in Covid-19 cases.