Puri July 7 :The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a batch of petitions seeking permission to hold the annual Jagannath Rath Yatra in other cities of Odisha, besides the Jagannath temple in Puri, citing the Covid-19 situation.
Chief Justice N V Ramana, heading a three-judge bench also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy, said it did not want to interfere with the considered decision taken by the state government to restrict the Rath Yatra to the Puri temple this time.
‘You and I are not the people who can predict the Covid-19 situation…Let the government decide,’ said the CJI.
He added that while he too felt bad, there was little the court could do.
‘I also wanted to go to Puri but I could not in the last one-and-a-half years. I worship at home. This isn’t the time,’ the CJI said adding, ‘Hope God will allow next Rath Yatra’.
The state administration had decided to restrict the annual event to Puri this time keeping in mind the Covid-19 situation. This was upheld by the Orissa High Court.
The petition in the SC by Odisha Vikas Parishad challenged the June 23 HC order refusing to interfere with the state government decision.