On Friday, the Supreme Court allowed Jains to offer prayers but on Saturday and Sunday only, at any one of three temples in Mumbai. This is in the Dadar, Byculla and Chembur, due to the eight-day Paryushan festival.
As per the direction given by Supreme Court, prayers could be offered as long as SOPs are followed sincerely, making sure everyone is wearing the face mask and maintaining social distancing.
Religious gatherings remain banned as per the Covid guidelines, only individuals will be allowed to worship at three temples temporarily.
The SC clarified that it was a one-off relaxation and would not apply to the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. “This order is not intended to be used as a precedent by other persons to seek permission to hold any festival/festivities which would involve, by their very nature, congregation of people, such as ‘Ganesh festival’,” a bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde, Justice A S Bopanna and Justice V Ramasubramanian said.
Appearing for a Jain religious trust, senior advocate Dushyant Dave submitted that the temple administrations would allow only five devotees at a time and a maximum of 250 people a day. “When the Maharashtra government could allow opening of malls and liquor vends, leading to huge congregations, can they cite Covid-19 to disallow five devotees at a time to enter Jain temples to seek spiritual solace from Tirthankars and get relief from anxiety caused by the pandemic?” he asked.
The bench said: “We are of the view that a small reprieve can be granted to the petitioners, without making it a precedent. After all, the petitioners are not seeking to hold any festivities in congregation. The petitioners want by way of an interim measure opening of three temples, one each in Byculla, Dadar and Chembur in Mumbai. They have undertaken to restrict the entry of devotees only to five persons at any given time subject to a maximum of 250 devotees on a single day