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The Gujarat High Court rejected all applications including that of the state government's seeking permission to take out Jagannath Rath Yatra procession.
"Faith can't be fragile enough to be broken if the yatra doesn't take place. What's the meaning of yatra in the absence of people. No permission granted," a bench comprising of CJ Vikram Nath and Justice JB Pardiwala said while hearing the pleas in the wee hours of Tuesday.
The Rath Yatra will be limited to the Jagannath Mandir campus only, the bench further said. Only 10 devotees will be allowed at a time inside the temple premises after thermal checking.
The state and the other third party interveners were relying on the Supreme Court ruling Monday, where it permitted the Rath Yatra procession in Puri, Odisha, subject to restrictions.
However, the division bench headed by Chief Justice Vikram Nath did not accept these grounds, saying the Covid-19 situation in Gujarat was very different from Odisha.
