The Supreme Court Wednesday agreed to examine a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking the re-opening of religious places of all faiths that have remained closed since the nationwide lockdown due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
A three-judge bench of the Chief Justice S A Bobde, and Justices A S Bopanna and Justice V. Ramasubramanian issued notice to the Centre, States and Union Territories (UTs) seeking their response to a plea filed by the Gitarth Ganga Trust.
The plea sought the reopening of religious places to uphold the fundamental rights of citizens, particularly of devotees.
The petitioner argued that the prohibition by the States and the locking down of places of worship completely did not meet the test of proportionality i.e. a complete closure of places of worship was not necessary to meet the objectives of fighting the pandemic.
All that is absolutely necessary is, the petitioner said, that requisite precautions be followed which have in fact been laid down by the Government.
Referring to the opening of business and commercial activities, the plea said that it was discrimination against religious institutions if they were not granted similar permission.
Read Order
http://theleaflet.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/18236_2020_31_10_23872_Order_09-Sep-2020.pdf
