CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has upheld the State Government decision to keep religious places and places of worship closed for devotees till June 30. The division bench of Chief Justice Mohammad Rafiq and Justice BR Sarangi gave the ruling while dismissing on grounds of merit of a PIL on Thursday.
The judges observed that the State Government’s order cannot be held in anyway opposed to public interest. Petitioner Jayanta Kumar Bal had challenged the June 1 order of the Government on the ground that it is contrary to the direction issued by the Centre on May 30 to open religious places and places of worship from June 8.
The bench said, "Considering the guidelines issued by the Centre and the June 1 order of the State Government, we are not inclined to hold that the impugned order is in anyway opposed to public interest. On the contrary, in our view, the order of the State Government appears to have been passed taking consideration of larger public interest and in consonance with the guidelines issued by the Central Government in order to prevent spreading of coronavirus."
The Court stated its reluctance to interfere with the decision of the State Government, which appears to be based on objective evaluation of situation.