PIL seeking permission for holding Muharram procession declined by Supreme Court

August 27: A three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India SA Bobde dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking permission for taking out Muharram processions across the country, saying a general direction for the entire country in this regard will lead to chaos. The Supreme Court on Thursday was hearing a petition by Syed Kalbe Jawad from Uttar Pradesh, who cited the June order permitting the Rath Yatra festival in Odisha.

Chief Justice SA Bobde said, “You are referring to the Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra, that was at one place and one set route. In that case we could assess the risk and pass orders. The difficulty is you are asking for a general order for the whole country.” Justice Bobde added, “We cannot risk the health of all people. If you had asked for one place, we could have assessed the risk.”

The bench of the apex court further said that it would not pass orders that could risk health of so many people. It, however, allowed the petitioner to withdraw the petition with the liberty to approach the high court with limited prayer of holding procession in Lucknow.