The Madras High Court on Saturday ordered that it is not necessary to insist upon the production of the result of a COVID-19 test, taken within 48 hours, by devotees visiting Dharbaranyeswara Swamy and Saneeswara Bhagwan temple at Tirunallar in Karaikal for Sani Peyarchi between December 27 and February 12.
Justices R. Mahadevan and R.N. Manjula made it clear that it would be sufficient for the authorities concerned to subject all devotees to thermal screening and then conduct a rapid test only on those having high temperature. However, wearing of masks and maintaining physical distance must be made compulsory and implemented scrupulously, they said.
The directions were issued on a writ appeal filed against a ruling by a single judge who had, on December 23, ordered the constitution of a special team comprising representatives of the Lieutenant-Governor, Government of Puducherry; the Karaikal Collector; and the temple administration for working out the modalities for the festival.
Accordingly, the team met on December 24 and decided to insist upon COVID-19 test results from all devotees as was being done in Sabarimala.
Aggrieved against such insistence, a third party had preferred the appeal on the ground that it would be highly impossible to obtain the test results at the eleventh hour.
Finding force in the submissions made by senior counsel T.R. Rajagopalan, appearing for the appellant, the Division Bench passed an interim order clarifying that it would not be necessary for all devotees to produce test results. It kept the appeal pending and directed the respondents to file their counter by January 6.
