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Supreme Court refuses nod for rath yatra outside Puri
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to allow rath yatras in cities other than Jagannath Puri in Odisha, observing that people should rather worship at home in view of the Covid-19 pandemic
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to allow rath yatras in cities other than Jagannath Puri in Odisha, observing that people should rather worship at home in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“You want to pray to the God. You can do it at home. I also wanted to go to Puri, but I have not been able to go in the last one-and-half years because of the pandemic. This is not the time. I pray at home,” remarked chief justice of India NV Ramana, while dismissing a clutch of applications to permit rath yatras at Baripada, Sasang, Nilagiri and Kendrapara in the state.
The bench, headed by the CJI and also including justices AS Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy, was categorical that the state government took a “considered decision” by not allowing rath yatras at any place other than Puri in order to ward off the spread of infection.
“We will watch it (rath yatra) on television only. We also feel bad, but we cannot do anything in this situation. We can only hope and trust God will allow us these rituals next year,” said justice Ramana. The rath yatra of Lord Jagannath in Puri is an annual ritual scheduled for July 12.
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, representing the Union government, earlier suggested to the bench that symbolic yatras with limited number of participants could be permitted by the top court because some of the applicants were performing the rituals for centuries.
“Yatra was allowed last year by this court for Lord Jagannath at Puri after putting certain conditions. Appropriate conditions can be imposed for this year too to ensure there are no public gatherings. This way, religious sentiments can be protected along with health of the people,” he said.
But Odisha’s advocate general Ashok Parija resisted this suggestion, pointing out that the state administration will not be in a position to manage rath yatras across the state while imposing all restrictions and safeguards.
“There are no questions of faith of people being affected in these times. Puri was under curfew last year when yatra was conducted after limiting the number of people who could pull the chariots. All those involved had to get their RT-PCR tests done. How will the state ensure all these conditions at several places? Puri is different from other places and that is why the state has allowed the yatra only for Puri this year,” said Parija.
The bench found force in Parija’s arguments, as it asked the lawyers appearing for the applicants to refrain from pressing their applications. When some of the lawyers contended that the Covid situation at some places was better than Puri, and that they will take all precautions, the bench retorted: “You and I are not the people who can predict the Covid-19 situation. Please do not poke your knowledge into such matters. Let the government decide.”
The bench then dismissed all the applications, upholding the Odisha government’s decision to allow rath yatra only at Puri.
On June 10, the state government announced that the annual rath yatra in Puri will begin on July 12 and will take place without devotees. The government added that only fully vaccinated temple officials, or those who test negative for the coronavirus disease 48 hours before the festival will be allowed to pull the chariots.
In June last year, the top court allowed the rath yatra after initially stopping it in view of the surge in coronavirus cases. Lifting the stay order, the court had permitted the ritual with stringent conditions, including curfew in the city and no public attendance.
