Image Courtesy:thehindu.com
The Bombay High Court, on Thursday, refused to intervene in the Maharashtra state government’s decision against reopening places of worship. A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni, was hearing a Public Interest Litigation moved by a group called Association for Aiding Justice.
The court ruled, “Taking judicial notice of the given situation prevailing in the State of Maharashtra, we are not inclined, at this stage, to pass any order, as prayed for by the petitioner, directing the State to open the places of worship, even in a limited manner. We leave it to the State to decide its next course of action, if at all the situation changes for the better.” The court then adjourned the matter for two months.
Maharashtra was one of the first states to begin lockdowns in major hotspots like Mumbai, even before the national lockdown, with provisions against gathering at places of worship. Maharashtra currently has as many as 2,75,404 active cases. As per the state government’s latest statistics, over 7 crore tests have been conducted so far, with almost 15 lakh tests conducted in just one day yesterday!
The entire order may be read here:
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