No Bombay HC relief on plea to open mosques for Ramadan prayers – Times of India

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Wednesday declined any relief on a plea by Juma Masjid of Bombay Trust to direct the state to open mosques so that prayers can be offered during the holy month of Ramadan which starts from April 14.
A holiday bench of justice R D Dhanuka and justice V G Bisht heard Juma Masjid’s plea via video conferencing for urgent relief against the prohibition put in place by the state government on April 12 in a ‘break the chain’ measure given the surge in Covid-19 cases.
The petitioners represented by advocate M A Vaid cited an April 12 Delhi high court order that allowed mosques to be opened for Ramadan with proper social distancing and other safety measures in place. Their plea was made “in exercise of right to freedom of religion’’.
The petitioners said they had made a representation before the state on April 6 to allow mosques to remain open.
But additional government pleader Jyoti Chavan said the Delhi HC order cannot be invoked as the situation in Maharashtra and Mumbai is grave and on Tuesday alone over 16,500 new cases were added in ‘Mumbai Circle total’ and across the state 60,212 new cases were added. She said the state’s tally of Covid positive cases is over 35 lakh.
She said the state’s circular of April 13 to bar religious places from staying open was needed to break the chain of the second and a more infectious wave of the Covid pandemic.
Clause 7 of the latest state ‘break the chain’ circular stipulates: Religious places of worship remain closed. All personnel engaged in services of place of worship shall continue to perform their duties though no outside visitor shall be allowed, it adds and further says, “all staff that may work in these places are advised to get vaccinated at the earliest, as per Government of India guidelines, so that reopening of these places may be expedited.’’
The HC recorded the stipulations in its order.