The Bombay High Court has provided interim relief to members of the Bombay Parsi Panchayat (BPP) who filed a petition seeking to conduct prayer meetings at the Tower of Silence at Kemps Corner (Doongerwadi) for Farvardin Roj. This annual Parsi festival sees the Parsi community paying tributes to their deceased family members.
The Bombay High Court has allowed meetings to be held between 7 AM to 4:30 PM at the aforementioned location on September 3. Permissions have been granted provided the members follow social distancing norms and not allow children below the age of 10 and adults over the age of 65.
To maintain social distancing, the court has asked community members to not have more than 6 members present at any given time. Prayers can be offered in each of the five pavilions located at the Tower of Silence with permissions for two priests per prayer pavilion.
The Court has warned that any violation of the Central, State or Civic Body standard operating procedures (SOPs) or rules will hold the original petitioner in contempt and make him liable for punishment.
The petition was filed by Viraf Mehta who is one of the trustees of BPP. The division bench consisting of Justices R D Dhanuka and Madhav Jamdar was informed by advocate Prakash Shah that following a meeting conducted with the Principal Home Secretary and the Secretary of the Disaster Management Department, the BPP had filed a separate affidavit with some modifications made to the original schedule.
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As per the revised itinerary, around 200 members of the Parsi community are expected to reach the Doongerwadi Tower of Silence on September 3 while also ensuring that all social distancing norms and other safety protocols will be followed.
Previously, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh and State Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni had said that the BPP will have to ensure that all 200 devotees don’t arrive at the same time so as to maintain adequate distance. In response, the petitioner said that members will only arrive at a time slot assigned to them and that they will only praying at the premises for around 30 minutes.
Taking these words into consideration, the court has directed the State Government to make proper arrangements to the corresponding roads at Kemps Corner to make sure traffic moves smoothly with no hold-ups.
In closing, the court specified that permission was granted based on the peculiarity of the case and that this doesn’t serve as a precedent for future cases.
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