HC declines to consider NGO's plea on Jagannath Rath Yatra

The division bench had in its Saturday order said there will be no Rath Yatra this year in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, and no activities - "secular or religious" - associated with the event during this period. The court's June 20 order came on a PIL moved by a journalist, Hitesh Chavda, seeking its direction to not allow the Rath Yatra this year as it could cause coronavirus cases to rise sharply.

The Gujarat High Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea filed by an NGO claiming to represent the devotees of Lord Jagannath and seeking modification of its order staying the annual Rath Yatra of the deity here due to the coronavirus pandemic. The civil application moved by the NGO, Hindu Yuva Vahini, for urgent circulation on Monday came up for hearing before a division bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice JB Pardiwala.

The Rath Yatra, organised annually by Shri Jagannathji Mandir Trust, is one of the most popular religious festivals in Gujarat. This year the procession was slated on June 23. The bench refused to entertain the plea, saying the temple's chief priest himself has told the media that on June 23, the holy chariot of Lord Jagannath and other Gods will be taken out within the temple premises to protect the health and well being of devotees.

The NGO's plea, moved earlier in the day, urged the HC to modify its Saturday order to the extent as to allow the authorities to take out a symbolic Rath Yatra from the Jagannath temple here on its scheduled date in a limited manner with only three holy chariots and within the shortest possible route without involvement of members of the public. The division bench had in its Saturday order said there will be no Rath Yatra this year in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, and no activities - "secular or religious" - associated with the event during this period.

The court's June 20 order came on a PIL moved by a journalist, Hitesh Chavda, seeking its direction to not allow the Rath Yatra this year as it could cause coronavirus cases to rise sharply. The Hindu Yuva Vahini, through its lawyer Vivek Bhamre, had sought to implead itself as a third party intervener to represent the devotees of Lord Jagannath, who it said, have not been represented in the PIL.

The NGO said the annual Rath Yatra, "an important event in the history of Ahmedabad," has been taken out every year since 1878, even during curfew, and the religious event is a symbol of communal harmony. The applicant said that while the present situation is unprecedented and safety and security of the general public is paramount, the Yatra can be allowed in a limited form with little public participation along the shortest route possible.

"The Rath Yatra was introduced in the year 1878, and the gesture of the Lord himself coming out with his brother and sister on holy chariots is significant...Rath Yatra was not cancelled even once in the last 142 years, not even during testing times. The procession was even taken out during curfew," the NGO said..