India / Allow Puri Rath Yatra without public participation: Govt to SC

The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that Puri's Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra can be allowed this year without public participation due to coronavirus pandemic. "It's a matter of faith for crores. If Lord Jagannath won't come out tomorrow, he cannot...for 12 years as per traditions," Centre said. The state government can impose a one-day curfew, Centre added.

india.com : Jun 22, 2020, 04:12 PM

New Delhi: ‘Annual Rath Yatra can be held without public participation keeping in view the COVID19 pandemic’, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday. More than a dozen petitions have been moved before the Supreme Court seeking recall of its order staying the historic Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra, which was scheduled for June 23.

Centre mentions the annual Rath Yatra matter before Supreme Court and says, it can be held without public participation keeping in view the COVID19 pandemic https://t.co/swTOUGrGRU
— ANI (@ANI) June 22, 2020

On June 18, the top court had stayed the ‘Rath Yatra’ in Puri and all other places in Odisha in the wake of coronavirus, which has killed more than 13,000 people across the country.

Some petitioners had prayed to the Supreme Court that the yatra be allowed to take place and the three chariots maybe pulled by the servitors of Jagannath temple and police officials in Puri by adhering to the social distancing norms, according to the law department.