Govt to abide by SC ruling on Car fest

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Government on Thursday decided to abide by the directive of the Supreme Court not to organise Rath Yatra, scheduled on June 23, anywhere in the State including Puri.A decision in this regard was taken at an emergency meeting of the Cabinet held here in view of the Supreme Court’s order on Thursday. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik presided over the meeting.

The Cabinet, however, resolved to conduct all the rituals inside the Jagannath temple premises in Puri as per the directive of the apex court by adhering to all the guidelines issued by the Government from time to time. An order from the State Government has already been issued to Sri Jagannath Temple Authority (SJTA), Puri, on this line.

The Cabinet decided that Centre’s order on May 30, the State Government’s directive on June 1 and all other guidelines issued on Covid-19 will be strictly implemented during the period inside the temple premises.

The district collectors were directed to ensure that the managing committees of all the Jagannath temples in their jurisdiction will implement the Supreme Court directive as per the orders issued by the State Government.  

The Supreme Court in its judgement directed that there will be no Rath Yatra anywhere in the Temple town of Odisha (Puri) or in any other part of the State this year. The Court further directed that there will be no secular or religious activities associated with the Rath Yatra during the period. While Advocate General Ashok Parija apprised the Cabinet about the Supreme Court direction, Law Minister Pratap Jena brought the State Government’s proposal to abide by the order.

Among others, Chief Secretary and working chairperson of Shri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Asit Tripathy, Development Commissioner Suresh Mohapatra, principal secretary in the Law department Sashikant Mishra and chief administrator of SJTA Krishan Kumar were present at the meeting.