INTRODUCTION
Jagannath Rath Yatra festival is dedicated to Lord Jagannath (Lord Krishna), his sister Goddess Subhadra and his elder brother Lord Balabhadra or Balaram. Jagannath Rath Yatra is widely celebrated and one of the biggest festivals of India where millions of devotees arrive and participate in the Rath Yatra processions and seek the blessings of Lord Jagannath.Jagannath Rath Yatra is organised at Puri in Odisha. It is believed that Lord Jagannath every year wishes to visit his birthplace. Various stories are associated with this festival some of them are as follows:
The maternal uncle Kansa of Lord Krishna and Balram invited them to Mathura to kill them. Kansa sent Akrur with a chariot to Gokul. Lord Krishna and Balram sat on the chariot and left for Mathura. The devotees celebrate this day of departure as Rath Yatra.
RIGHT TO RELIGION!
Religion is a matter of belief or faith. The constitution of India recognizes the fact, how important religion is in the life of the people of India.
The Constitution of India envisages a secular model and provides that every person has the right and freedom to choose and practice his or her religion. In several cases, the Apex Court has held that secularism is the basic structure of the Constitution, the most important being the Kesavananda Bharati case.
Freedom of religion in India is a fundamental right guaranteed by Article 25-28 of the Constitution of India. Every citizen of India has a right to practice and promote their religion peacefully.
The Preamble of the Indian Constitution has the word "secular", and articles 25 to 28 implying that the State will not discriminate, patronise or meddle in the profession of any religion. However, it shields individual religions or groups by adding religious rights as fundamental rights. Article 25 says "all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practice, and propagate religion subject to public order, morality and health." Further, Article 26 says that all denominations can manage their own affairs in matters of religion. All these rights are subject to be regulated by the State.
PROHIBITING RATH YATRA?
The plea has been filed in the Supreme Court of India concerning the allowance of Rath yatra against the order of Orissa high court order dismissing the State Government directive.
Several petitions were filed against this directive of the State Government in Orissa High Court. The High court dismissed all the petitions stating these are extraordinary times and the court will not entertain such pleas.
Petitioner NGOs Biswo Go Surakhya Bahinee and Dharma Rakhya Sena, through Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, said that Orissa High Court has erred in upholding the Government order as a total ban on Ratha Yatra will be against the right to religion of the citizens guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution of India.
The petitioners prayed for interim relief against the High Court order because the State Government has taken a different view while allowing several businesses even including wine shops to open whereas putting a blanket ban on the observance of the ancient traditional ritual of Rath Yatra. This has hurt the religious beliefs and sentiments of the public at large.
The plea said that the State Government while passing impugned order “failed to make a balance between the right of citizens guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution and the restriction to be imposed under the provisions Disaster Management Act, 2005”.
It was further stated that the blanket ban order of the State Government is irrational and arbitrary. It was passed mis-utilizing the powers under the Disaster Management Act due to which the fundamental right to perform religious functions is being taken away and is in violation of Articles 14 and 25 of the Constitution of India. Petitioners further contended that as the Yatra has been allowed at the Jagannath Puri Temple following the conditions laid down by the High Court’s order of last year about the same subject matter; other temples of the state too should be allowed to perform the ritual following the same guidelines.
The petitioners said that the High Court failed to give any reason for not applying the order passed by the Apex Court last year, under which the rituals can be performed while observing the conditions laid down. On June 23 last year, the top court had allowed the historic Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra at Puri with certain conditions, including no public attendance. The apex court allowed the holding of the yatra after taking note of the Odisha government's assurance that it "can be held in a limited way without public attendance".
The petitioners have sought a stay of the June 23 order of the High Court.
CONCLUSION
Last year when a similar situation arose Supreme Court opined an instance wherein, they mentioned said as follows:
“While we do not have the official copy of the gazette itself, we are informed that in the 18th-19th century a yatra of this kind was responsible for the spread of cholera and plague “like wildfire”. We say this to remind the authorities concerned that the situation could become dangerous if the rules of caution are ignored”
During the Current pandemic situation Courts, are left with the responsibility of making a wise decision in the favour of society at large and also try their level best to not hurt the sentiments of people in protecting it.
However, in former and latter dilemmas courts have been given the responsibility to come up with a balanced remedy to protect the fundamental rights enshrined in our Constitution of India.