[ad_1]
Mumbai:
The Bombay High Court right this moment allowed the Parsi group in Mumbai to supply Farvardiyan prayers on the Doongerwadi tower of silence in Mumbai for a day on Thursday after the Maharashtra authorities denied permission for a similar.
The courtroom additionally stated its order was to be handled as an exception, and others looking for permission for another spiritual occasion or prayers can not use this as a precedent.
A bench of Justices RD Dhanuka and MJ Jamdar granted the permission on the situation that no particular person under the age of 10or above the age of 65 can be allowed on the premises within the wake of the COVID-19-related restrictions.
The bench additionally mandated that attendees will compulsorily use masks, sanitisers, and observe the usual working procedures (SOPs) issued by the Centre and the Maharashtra authorities final month on implementing security precautions within the wake of COVID-19.
As per the order, the prayers might be held between 7 am and 4:30 pm and no more than 200 individuals will attend it.
At any given hour, solely a most of 30 individuals might be permitted contained in the premises.
The bench allowed the group to carry prayers after the state authorities denied permission to the Bombay Parsi Panchayat (BPP) for a similar.
On Monday, the excessive courtroom directed the state authorities to contemplate a illustration made by BPP for holding prayers on the group temple right here on September 3.
After the excessive courts directive, the petitioner, BPP trustee Viraf Mehta, and one other trustee made a illustration earlier than the state authorities looking for permission for the prayers.
On Wednesday, the state knowledgeable the courtroom that it had rejected BPP’s request.
Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni stated the state had refused permission as a result of the petitioners insisted on a lot of individuals, as a substitute of holding a “symbolic prayer”.
“We are not against any one particular community. We are asking them to stay at home for their own safety. Our (state”s) approach is like that of the parents” of citizens. We want them to be safe from the virus,” Mr Kumbhakoni stated.
The Union authorities’s counsel, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, additionally stated the Centre was not against any group”s festivities, but it surely solely cared for the bigger public well being and security.
The petitioner’s counsel, Prakash Mehta, nevertheless, advised the courtroom that BPP would prohibit the variety of individuals attending the prayers and likewise take all security precautions.
Mr Mehta stated the Doongerwadi tower of silence at Kemps Corner in south Mumbai was unfold over an space of 55 acres.
The premises might be divided into 5 pavilions of 600 to 800 sq ft every and solely six individuals might be permitted inside every pavilion on an hourly foundation, he stated.
The courtroom accepted the petitioners” enterprise and granted the permission for prayers on Thursday.
It nevertheless, clarified that its order was to be handled as an exception, and others looking for permission for another spiritual festivity or prayers can not use the current order as a precedent.
As per the order, all individuals” temperatures might be recorded earlier than they enter the premises, and use of masks, sanitisers might be obligatory.
The courtroom additionally recorded the petitioners” submissions that Parsis who died resulting from COVID-19 weren’t laid to relaxation at Doongerwadi, the property was gated one and nobody however the Parsis had been permitted inside.
Earlier, Viraf Mehta filed a plea final week via advocate Shah, looking for particular permission for prayers on the strains of the permission granted by the Supreme Court to the Jain group to open three temples within the metropolis for his or her Paryushan pageant.
Mr Shah advised the courtroom that the prayers weren’t a part of festivities, however had been an annual ritual, whereby members of the group remembered and paid respect to the departed.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
[ad_2]
Source hyperlink