Orissa High Court
2 28.6.2021. Dillip Kumar Samantaray vs State Of Odisha And Others ..... ... on 28 June, 2021
Bench: S.K. Mishra, B.P.Routray
W.P (C) No.17921 of 2021
2 28.6.2021. Dillip Kumar Samantaray ..... Petitioner.
Mr. Biswjit Sahoo, Advocate.
Versus
State of Odisha and others ..... Opposite Parties.
Mr.Debakanta Mohanty,
Addl. Government Advocate.
CORAM:
JUSTICE S.K. MISHRA
JUSTICE B.P.ROUTRAY
ORDER
1. This case is taken up through Video Conferencing.
2. Heard Mr. Mr. Biswjit Sahoo, learned counsel for the Petitioner and Mr. Debakanta Mohanty, learned Addl. Government Advocate for the State.
3. The Petitioner has filed this Writ Petition with the following prayer:-
"It is therefore prayed that your Lordships may be graciously pleased to admit the Writ Application, issue rule nisi in the nature of a writ of mandamus and any other writ or writs as AKB deemed fit and proper, and issue notice the opposite parties to show cause as to why the Opposite Parties shall not act upon the representation vide Annexure-2 in permitting to conduct Car Festival in Ranpur Nayagarh adhering to the Covid norms;
And in the event the Opposite Parties fails to show cause or show insufficient cause, the Opposite Parties be directed to act upon the representation vide Annexure-2 and grant permission to conduct Car Festival in Ranpur Nayagarh adhering to the Covid norms;
And further be pleased to pass any other Writ(s), Order(s), direction(s) and relief(s) as deemed fit and proper."
4. Such matter came was up before the Division Bench of this Court on 23.6.2021 and the Petitioner had challenged the order dated 10th June, 2021 issued by the Office of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC), Government of Odisha whereby in acknowledgement of the State of Odisha still being in the grip of the second wage of the Covid-19 pandemic, directions were issued, inter alia, that Ratha Yatra shall be conducted in this year in Badadanda of Lord Jagannath Bije Puri and no where else in the State in the same manner as was done last year. In particular, it has been ordered that "No chariot shall be pulled in places/temples in the State of Odisha except Car Festival/Ratha Yatra of Lord Jagannath Bije Puri".
5. As regards rest of the temples other than the Lord Jagannath Temple at Puri, the said order directs that "only rituals may be performed inside the temple premises."
6. Having considered the matter, the Division Bench observed as follows:-
" In all these petitions on behalf of the devotees and the sevayats of the deities in different locations of the State of Odisha the grievance raised is that they too should have been permitted to conduct the respective Car festivals on the ground that the rate of COVID-19 surge in those locations is far less than it is at Puri. This Court would not like to sit in appeal over the decision of the Government of Odisha as expressed in the aforementioned order dated 10th June 2021 of the SRC in so far as the special instructions in respect of the Rath Yatra/Car festival to be held in Puri is concerned. The temple of Lord Jagannath at Puri constitutes a class apart and has been implicitly recognized as such by the order dated 22nd June, 2020 of the Supreme Court of India in Writ Petition (Civil) No.571 of 2020 (Odisha Bikash Parishad v. Union of India) whereby specific directions were issued in relation to the holding of the Ratha Yatra in Puri in 2020, when the first wave of the Ciovid-19 was still on.
Mr. Mohanty, learned Additional Government Advocate appearing on advance notice on behalf of the Opposite Parties (State) informs this Court that the impugned order dated 10th June, 2021 has been issued keeping in view the above directions of the Supreme Court.
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".
7. In addition to the observations made in the aforesaid order of the Division Bench of this Court presided over by Hon'ble the Chief Justice, we also took note of the fact that the Car festival or Ratha Yatra at Puri is to be performed only by the servitors of Lord Jagannath. No devotees are allowed to attend the Ratha Yatra. The Petitioner has not averred any where in the Writ Petition that there are enough servitors at Ranpur in the district of Nayagarh to completely carry out the festival without involvement of any other persons.
8. In that view of the matter, we are not inclined to entertain the Writ Petition. Hence the Writ Petition is dismissed being devoid of any merit.
9. Learned counsel for the Petitioner submitted that the representation may be directed to be disposed of. We also find no merit on that also.
As the restrictions due to resurgence of COVID-19 are continuing, learned counsel for the parties may utilize a printout of the order available in the High Court's website, at par with certified copy, subject to attestation by the concerned advocate Biswajit Sahoo, learned counsel for the Petitioners, or Mr. Debakanta Mohanty, learned Addl. Government Advocate ,for the State, in the manner prescribed vide Court's Notice No.4587 dated 25th March, 2020 as modified by Court's Notice No.4798 dated 15th April, 2021.
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S.K.Mishra, (Judge) ............................
B.P.Routray, (Judge)