Supreme Court says no to Moharram procession

New delhi date. 27 August 2020, Thursday

The apex court on Thursday denied permission to hold Muharram processions across the country and asked the Lucknow-based petitioner to transfer it before the Allahabad High Court with his application. The Supreme Court said that this could be passed as a general order for the entire country.

Chief Justice SA Bobade and a bench of Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian said it could create chaos and target a particular community. You are asking for a common command and then there will be chaos if we allow it. We don't want a particular community to be targeted for spreading corona.

We as a court cannot endanger the health of everyone. Bach heard the case via video conference and also addressed the public health in our statement. Bach allowed the petitioner to withdraw the petition with the freedom to knock on the door of the Supreme Court with the limited prayers of the procession in Lucknow. The Supreme Court was hearing a public interest litigation by Shia leader Syed Kalbe Jawad.

Petitioner's counsel in charge of Jagannathpuri's rathyatra. The court's comment on the petitioner's argument was interesting. "You are seeking permission all over the country and you also know that the Jagannathpuri Yatra takes place in a special place," the court said. Where the chariot moves from one place to another. If you had argued about a single location, the order could have been made after assessing the threat, but in the current situation it would not be appropriate to issue any kind of order.