DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand government on Tuesday submitted a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court against the High Court stay on the annual Char Dham Yatra. The HC on June 28 had stayed the Uttarakhand Cabinet’s decision to start the yatra from July 1.
Confirming the development advocate general SN Babulkar said, “At this point I can only con from that the SLP has been submitted to the honourable Supreme Court.”In the petition, the Uttarakhand government stated that the residents of the villages around the Char Dham shrines are facing difficulties to earn their livelihood due to suspension of the yatra. It further explained due to harsh climate, these people depend on the yatra for livelihoods.
The state government also pointed out that there are fewer cases of Covid in the districts of Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi where the four shrines Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri — are located. The petition mentioned that from June 15 to July 2 , positivity rate was 0.64% in Chamoli and 1.16% in Rudraprayag where Badrinath and Kedarnath are located.
The Uttarakhand HC had observed that religious faith cannot be allowed to override public safety. The court had cited the case of Kumbh to buttress its point.