Govt has allowed opening of restaurants, Jain devotees can be allowed to use temple dining halls: Bombay High Court observes

Bombay High Court has allowed Shree Trust Atman Kamal Labdhisurishwarji Jain Gyanmandir Trust to use their dining halls for a specific time-period for 9 days to perform the ritual of Ayambil Tap..A Bench of Justices SJ Kathawalla and VG Bisht reasoned that the Government has allowed restaurants and bars to commence their business with 50% capacity by following certain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), the Trust can be allowed to use dining halls for 9 days with SOPs in place, since it was not forming congregation through procession. .Not allowing the devotees of the Jain community to use the dining halls to perform the ritual of Ayambil Tap by maintaining the norms of social distancing and following SOPs, will amount to grave discrimination causing injustice to the Jain devotees.Court observed..The Court permitted the Trust to use their dining halls only for performing the ritual of Ayambil Tap from October 23 to October 31 between 10 am to 3 pm by allowing 40 Jain devotees per hour thereby restricting the same to 200 Jain devotees in 5 hours..The Jain Trust filed the plea to raise a grievance against the decision of the State to not open up the religious places/places of worship for the members of the public. The permission to open dining halls for the Ayambil Tap ritual was an interim relief..Advocates Prafulla Shah, Gunjan Shah and Kayval Shah for the Jain Trust informed the Court that the ‘Ayambil Tap’ is one of the most religious ‘Parv’ of Jain religion observed by Jains since time immemorial..They added that since special cooks prepare the meal with the required ingredients in a specific manner, it was not possible for every devotee to prepare those meals in their homes..Advocate General AA Kumbhkoni and Government Pleaders PH Kantharia and Geeta Shastri reasoned that the State believed it was not advisable to open up the temples/places of worship for the general public..The court clarified that they had no intention to interfere with government policies or attempt to run the government..We are conscious of the fact that the State Government, keeping in view the general interest of the members of the public, has started the process of unlocking / lifting of lockdown gradually, and we are sure that the Government will at the appropriate stage also open up the doors of the places of worship for the members of the public, they added..Read order here: