"Total ban on Ratha Yatra against right to religion:" Plea in Supreme Court against Odisha govt order to confine Ratha Yatra to Puri due to COVID

A plea has been filed before the Supreme Court against a decision of Odisha government to disallow Ratha Yatra festival in temples across Odisha with the exception of Puri Jagannath Ratha Yatra.

The plea is an appeal against a Orissa High Court order of June 23, 2021, declining to interfere with the State's decision.

The appeal, filed through advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, challenged an order issued by the Office of Special Relief Commissioner (SRC), Government of Odisha mandating that the Ratha Yatra would be conducted in the same manner as last year i.e., only in the Badadanda of Lord Jagannath Bije, Puri and nowhere else in the State.

The petitioners, who are devotees and sevayats of deities in various locations, argued that since the surge of COVID-19 in their respective locations was far less than that at Puri, the conduct of Rath Yatra should be allowed in such areas outside Puri.

The appellant, Biswo Go Surakhya Bahinee, stated that State government has allowed several business activities to run and even allow wine shops but has taken a different view "mis-utilizing the powers conferred by Section 24(1) of Disaster Management Act,2005 r/w Rule 8(1) of the Odisha Disaster Management Rules,2010 so far as the observance of traditional rituals of taking out Shree Jagannath Yatra."

The petitioners have prayed that the Yatra of the temple of Shree Baldev Jew at Kendrapada can be performed in the same manner with the same restrictions as provided by the High Court for Puri Ratha Yatra.

"The temple of Lord Baldev Jew Kendrapada is an ancestral temple in the State of Odisha having more importance after the temple of Lord Jagannath Bije Puri and due to this Kendrapada is called as Tulasi kshetra," the petition said.

The petitioners, who are devotees and sevayats of deities in various locations, argued that since the surge of COVID-19 in their respective locations was far less than that at Puri, the conduct of Rath Yatra should be allowed in such areas outside Puri.

The appeal stated that the High Court failed to appreciate that total ban of Rath Yatra will be against the right to religion of the citizens guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution of India.

"The High Court has not given any reason for not applying the order passed by the Hon’ble Court in 2020, under which the rituals can be performed observing the conditions laid down by the Supreme Court," it was submitted.

The petitioners, therefore, urged the Court to pass directions allowing Ratha Yatra in temples across the State in places other than Puri.

The Orissa High Court had rejected the plea considering the COVID-19 pandemic situation.

“These are extraordinary times in which not just Odisha but the entire country is barely recovering from the second wave of the deadly Covid pandemic. The measures and precautions taken by the State of Odisha have to be viewed in the said context. Consequently, this Court is not inclined to entertain any of the prayers in any of the above writ petitions, praying for permission to hold their respective Rath yatras/festivals on parity with the temple of Lord Jagannath at Puri," the High Court had said.