Swarna Shukla –
Published On: October 27, 2021 at 13:51 IST
The Kerala High Court heard objections raised against the Virtual Queue System in Sabarimala.
A Division Bench consisting of Justice Anil K Narendran and Justice P G Ajithkumar requested the Respondents to make a provision on the portal for cancellation of bookings and refund of the booking amount if cancelled within a time frame.
The Court stated, “If a person from Andhra Pradesh books a slot and later finds it inconvenient to attend the pilgrimage due to genuine reasons, he shouldn’t be able to do so without trouble. Such provisions should be included in the website if you are planning to run it.”
The Supreme Court was addressing the matter challenging the legality of the Sabarimala Pilgrim Management System (SPMS) implemented by the Kerala Police, arguing that it restricts Darshan in Sabarimala only to those who avail the Virtual Queue Services.
The Primary allegation in the PIL by the Petitioner was that of facilitating the crowd management, the roles and powers of the State and Police unsurping the Devaswom Board for malafide reasons.
The Petitioner also claimed infringement of Right to Privacy as personal information, etc without any issuance regarding the protection were collected. The case before the Top Court was whether the Police and State were entitled to host a website and run Virtual Queue System without requisite approvals.
The Virtual Queue, as per the website maintained by the Police Department is a limited subscription, first come first serve basis service to provide access to pilgrimage services.