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SC nod to Rath Yatra, but public not allowed
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde set several conditions, including the imposition of a curfew in Puri during the festivities, and asked the Jagannath Temple administration committee and the Odisha government to strictly adhere to them
The Supreme Court allowed authorities in Odisha on Monday to conduct the famed Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath in Puri, recalling its June 18 order that prohibited this year’s celebrations in view of the coronavirus disease outbreak.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde set several conditions, including the imposition of a curfew in Puri during the festivities, and asked the Jagannath Temple administration committee and the Odisha government to strictly adhere to them. This year’s Rath Yatra will begin on Tuesday.
“If it is possible to ensure that there is no public attendance, we see no reason why the Rath Yatra cannot be conducted safely along its usual route from temple to temple. Having given serious consideration to the matter and having heard the parties, we are of the view that the Rath Yatra at Puri may be held,” the order by the bench, also comprising justices Dinesh Maheshwari and AS Bopanna, said.
All entry points to Puri, including railway stations and bus stands, will be closed during the festival, the court ordered. “The state government shall impose a curfew in the city of Puri on all the days and during all the time when Rath Yatra chariots are taken in procession. During the period of curfew, no one would be allowed to come out of their houses or their places of residence, such as hotels, lodging houses...,” the order said.
In a special sitting, the top court was hearing over a dozen applications by individuals and associations seeking recall of its order delivered on Thursday. The applications, including by Janardhan Pattajoshi Mohapatra (the hereditary chief servitor of Lord Jagannath of the Jagannath Temple), found support from the central and Odisha governments with both favouring holding the festival without public participation.
“Each Rath, i.e., chariot, shall be pulled by not more than 500 persons. Each of those 500 persons shall be tested for the coronavirus. They shall be permitted to pull the chariot only if they have been found negative,” the court said. All those pulling the chariots should maintain social distancing before, during and after the Rath Yatra, and there should be an interval of one hour between two chariots, the court added.
Hours after the order, Odisha government imposed a 41-hour curfew in Puri and started Covid-19 testing of 700 temple priests who would pull the three chariots. Health and family welfare department said 700 servitors would undergo Covid-19 tests and only those who test negative will be allowed to pull the chariots. Covid test of 800 servitors was already conducted earlier.
Odisha director general of police Abhay said the shutdown will remain in force from 9pm Monday till 2pm on Wednesday. “To restrict the entry of the people, all entry points to Puri will be sealed and barring urgent matters, no one will be allowed to enter Puri town. The shutdown period will be treated like the imposition of curfew,” said Abhay.
“We have mobilised 50 platoons of forces in Puri since Sunday evening,” he added.
Rath Yatra, or the chariot journey, celebrates the annual journey of Lord Jagannath and his two siblings from the 12th century Jagannath Temple to their aunt’s abode in Gundicha temple, 2.5km away.
The deities are taken in massive wooden chariots weighing 85 tonnes each. After staying in Gundicha temple for nine days, the three deities come back to the Jagannath Temple on the 10th day in a return journey. About a million devotees converge in Puri during the festivities.
On June 18, the court ordered a stay on the festival and all activities associated with it, saying there could be large congregations in violation of social distancing norms. The order was passed on a petition filed by NGO Odisha Vikas Parishad, which approached the top court pointing out the public health risk.
Union home minister Amit Shah welcomed Monday’s verdict. “Today is a special day for all of us, particularly our Odia sisters and brothers as well as devotees of Mahaprabhu Shri Jagannath Ji. The entire nation is delighted by the decision of the Honourable Supreme Court to ensure the Rath Yatra goes on,” he tweeted.
In a statement, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is from Odisha, said the event was not just a festival but an “inseparable emotion” for Odias. “Lord Jagannath evokes unwavering love, devotion and reverence,” he said.
Advocate Suvidutt MS, who represented Janardhan Pattajoshi Mohapatra, said: “I welcome this judgment that allows the Rath Yatra because it endorses the fact that there should a balance between right of individual believer and the collective rights of society in terms of the spreading pandemic against which the temple committee and state machinery has taken all measures.”
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