The Supreme Court on July 14 took suo motu cognisance of a Uttar Pradesh government move to reportedly go ahead with the annual Kanwar Yatra amid fears of a third wave of the pandemic.
A Bench led by Justice Rohinton F. Nariman referred to media reports that U.P. was pushing for the yatra even as Uttarakhand had suspended it.
Also read: Negative COVID-19 test may be required from out of State ‘Kanwariyas’, says U.P.
The annual pilgrimage witnesses a heavy flow of pilgrims who put up bivouacs across Delhi and the northern belt of the country.
The court said it wanted the State governments to clarify their stand on the conduct of the yatra amid a public health crisis.
“The citizens of India are completely perplexed. They don’t know what is going on. And all this amid the Prime Minister, when asked about a third wave of Covid striking the nation, saying ‘we cannot compromise even one bit’,” the court remarked.
The yatra is scheduled to commence on July 25.
The court issued notice to the Centre, U.P. and Uttarakhand and asked them to file their responses early for the Bench to take up the matter on July 16.
