Plea in SC seeks modification of order staying Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 19
A day after the Supreme Court stayed the famous Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath Temple, Puri, Odisha, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a plea has been filed a seeking modification of the order.
Jagannath Sanskruti Jana Jagrana Manch urged the Supreme Court to modify its order and permit Rath Yatra — scheduled to commence on June 23 — with a limited number of devotees with social distancing.
The Manch has contended that Odisha Vikas Parishad, on whose petition the Supreme Court stayed the Rath Yatra, did not disclose the Orissa High Court’s June 9 order refusing to stay the celebration leaving it to the state government to decide whether to hold it or not.
The HC had said if the state decided to hold the Rath Yatra, social-distancing norms prescribed by the Centre would be strictly followed.
It said the Deba Snana Purnima ritual was performed on June 5 with the help of 800 servitors, who first underwent COVID-19 tests. The 800 servitors have been in isolation for more than a month now, it added.
The Supreme Court, on Thursday, had stayed the Rath Yatra in view of a rising number of COVID-19 cases.
“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 had said while ordering a ban on all activities related to the Rath Yatra 2020.
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.
