The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to grant permission for carrying out Muharram processions across the country. The bench led by Chief Justice of India has asked the Lucknow-based petitioner to move the Allahabad High Court with his plea instead.
"If we allow this, there will be chaos and one particular community will be targeted for spreading COVID-19. We don't want that,” the bench said, refusing permission.
The bench comprising CJI SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian said that a general order allowing the processions to take place all over the country cannot be allowed.
“You are asking for a general order and then, if we allow this, there will be chaos. A particular community will be targeted for spreading COVID. We don't want that. We as a court cannot risk the health of all the people, the bench, which heard the matter through video conferencing,” the bench said.
The petitioner, Wasi Haider then cited examples of Jagannath Puri procession and the Jain temples in Mumbai, where processions were allowed to take place. In the previous hearing, the counsel had submitted to the court that the permission being sought was in a limited manner with only five participants, while ensuring all the safety norms were being followed.
The CJI responded, "You are giving the example of Jagannath Puri example, there it was in one place and one set route. We could assess the risk and pass the order for only Puri. In the Jain temple's case, it was three temples, five people at a time.”
The CJI said, "We, as a court, cannot risk the health of all the people."
The petitioner then sought permission in the city of Lucknow saying it had a major population of Shia Muslims. The apex court then asked them to approach the Allahabad High Court with his plea.
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