Unlike Puri, the Jagannath Rath Yatra in Ahmedabad was held in the temple premises on Tuesday, 23 June after the Gujarat High Court in a midnight hearing on Monday refused to modify its earlier order to not allow the Yatra, saying there can be no comparison between the coronavirus pandemic situation in Gujarat and Odisha.
The bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice JB Pardilwala rejected the application filed by the state government and five other parties who sought modification of the court's previous order on Saturday staying the 143rd Rath Yatra.
While the Supreme Court on Monday allowed the holding of the Rath Yatra in Odisha's Puri, a ground on which the Gujarat government had moved its plea, the Gujarat HC said the Rath Yatra and other processions should be held within the temple premises but no procession should be taken out in view of the prevailing coronavirus situation in Ahmedabad, PTI reported.
The order was passed at an urgent hearing at 12 am and passed its order at around 2 am on Tuesday.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani attended the Yatra at the Shree Jagannathji Temple in Ahmedabad inside temple premises.
“Hearing continued at the High Court till late last night but we could not get permission for the Rath Yatra due to COVID-19. I thank the trustee and the mahant of the temple for understanding the situation and arranging Rath Yatra inside the temple premises,” Rupani told ANI.
Meanwhile, the Rath Yatra in Puri, as instructed by the Supreme Court, was held without devotees for the first time in history.
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