Nisha Ghosal
For Diwali, the Bombay High Court has granted permission to open the Dadar Jain Temple and the Byculla Jain Temple from 13th November to till 17th November.
Two trusts had filed a writ petition, which was heard by the bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and Abhay Ahuja.
The applicants were looking for the same procedure for the other 102 Jain temples in the city.
Advocate Prafulla Shah, representing the petitioners, said that there was no reason to not open Jain temples for five days as other facilities and services like restaurants and bars, gymnasium, etc. were functioning fully.
He also asserted that the performance of the rituals of festivals was granted as a fundamental right under Article 25 and 26 as per the Indian Constitution.
Keeping the pandemic in mind, the State of Maharashtra and Mumbai City had rejected the request to grant the opening of 102 Jain temples.
Advocate General of Maharashtra, A A Kumbhakoni, stated that it is not a PIL. Therefore, the opening of the temple should only be restricted to two temples and not all 102 temples.
Finally, the Court declared,
“Since the Government has now allowed opening of malls, restaurants, bars, gymnasium by following certain SOP’s and have also allowed passengers to commute by trains/ monorail and metro service, and since the Petitioner’s are not wanting to form any congregation by way of procession, etc. we are of the view that the performance of the Pujas like Dhup (Incense) Puja, Deepak (Candle) Puja, Akshat (Rice) Puja, Naivedya (Sweet) Puja, Fal (Fruit) Puja, Vandan Kirtan, in the manner proposed by the Petitioner by maintaining norms of social distancing and following the applicable SOP’s in the manner suggested by them, will not cause any injury or prejudice to any one.”
The bench also cleared that the order exclusively for two Jain temples, one is TAKL Gyan Mandir Trust at Dadar and the other is Sheth Motisha Religious and Charitable Trust at Byculla.
