Patra moves SC seeking changes in Rath Yatra order

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson, Sambit Patra approached the Supreme Court on Sunday seeking a modification of the top court’s June 18 order which had

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson, Sambit Patra approached the Supreme Court on Sunday seeking a modification of the top court’s June 18 order which had barred the annual Hindu festival of Rath Yatra at Jagannath temple in Puri this year in view of Covid-19 pandemic.

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Patra, who himself was hospitalized for Coronavirus symptoms and later discharged, prayed that the Rath Yatra should be allowed to be held without public participation. He submitted that the Ratha Yatra can be conducted by employing the services of Lord Jagannath’s 800 sevayats, who are persons who perform the ritual services of Lord Jagannath and other deities at the Puri Jagannath temple.

In 2019, Patra had contested Lok Sabha elections from Puri and lost to Biju Janata Dal’s Pinaki Misra by 11, 714 votes.

At least a dozen such applications including one by Janardhan Pattajoshi Mohapatra, who is the hereditary chief servitor of Lord Jagannatha of the Jagannatha Temple, are already pending before the apex court seeking modification of its order. These applications will be heard in chambers by a single-judge bench of justice S Ravindra Bhat at 11 am on Monday.

The Rath Yatra is a festival associated with Lord Jagannatha. It was scheduled to commence this year on June 23. The festival lasts for 10 to 12 days and involves a procession of chariots containing the deities Lord Jagannatha, his brother Lord Balabhadra and sister Devi Subhadra.

The Supreme Court had ordered a stay on the festival and all activities associated with it this year stating that allowing the same would lead to a congregation more than 10 lakh devotees in violation of social distancing norms which could compromise public health and safety.

This order was passed in a petition filed by an NGO, Odisha Vikas Parishad which had moved the top court pointing out the public health risk involved if the annual event is allowed to take place.

The NGO referred to the Tablighi Jamaat incident which was Muslim religious congregation held in mid-March at Nizamuddin area in Delhi resulting in a spurt in Covid cases across the country after people from various parts of India and even foreign countries had attended the event.

“Of about 4,400 COVID-19 positive cases in India as on April 7, nearly one third were related to the religious gathering at the Markaz, Delhi. Thus, in order to avoid any similar instances of outbreak of COVID-19 cases, a religious gathering in the nature of Rath Yatra festival ought to be avoided”, the petition had stated.

“Having regard to the danger presented by such a large gathering of people for the Rath Yatra, we consider it appropriate in the interests of public health and safety of citizens who are devotees to restrain the respondents (state and district authorities and managing committee of Jagannatha temple) from holding the Rath Yatra this year”, the bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde had ordered on June 18.

The court had also directed that no such Rath Yatra should be allowed in any other part of Odisha.