Bengaluru: The top court has refused to entertain a plea seeking cancellation of the annual Amarnath Yatra. 

 

As reported by a popular website, the bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud said, "With due respect to principle of separation of powers....we leave it to the concerned authorities to take a decision on the matter. We are not inclined to entertain this petition."

The petitioner had sought that the live darshan of the deity be beamed across live TV/internet "so that crores across the country can have access".
"Whatever difficulty you apprehend, we cannot take over functioning of district administration", Justice Chandrachud told the counsel for the petitioner Amarnath Barfani Langar organisation.

It is interesting to note that the petitioner argued in the plea that annually several lakh devotees visit Amarnath cave shrine, and if this is allowed then it may lead to spread of the disease. The plea has also contended that though Shri Amarnath Shrine Board has not given permission to begin the annual pilgrimage, yet a few Bhandara organisations had been asked to reach the venue by 28 June and also asked to begin service (seva) from 3 July onwards, the website further noted. 

Earlier this year, there were news reports that the yatra had been shrunk to 15 days, beginning on July 21 and ending on August 3.

The announcement was stated by the officials of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) that manages the affairs of the Yatra to the cave shrine situated at 3,880 metres above the sea level in J&K's Anantnag district.

 

It is also interesting to note that that the 'Pratham Puja' for the Yatra was held in Jammu on Friday (5 June).

It had been made mandatory for all those undertaking the Yatra to possess COVID negative certificates.

"The pilgrims will be cross-checked for the virus before they are allowed to undertake the Yatra on entry into J&K," an official of the SASB had said.