The Bombay high court, on Wednesday, November 11, allowed two Jain temples located in Dadar and Byculla to open for devotees in Mumbai for five days during Diwali. This will be allowed between Dhnateras and Bhau Beej with strict conditions.
A division bench of justices S J Kathawalla and Abhay Ahuja issued the order while rejecting a plea seeking reopening of 102 Jain temples for Diwali, saying they should approach the court individually. The bench was hearing a petition filed by two Jain temple trusts. Advocate Prafulla Shah, who represented the petitioners, told the bench that the petition was seeking a limited relief in the form of permitting Jain temples in the city to open for five days during Diwali.
Shah submitted that as the five-day period of Diwali is auspicious and important for Jains, they should be permitted to visit the temples.
While referring to previous orders of the high court and Supreme Court wherein the Jain community was allowed to publicly observe their religious events and open three temples during the COVID-19 pandemic, Shah said that the community would abide by the lockdown and social distancing norms. Therefore, the petitioners demanded that the state government should be allowed to keep 102 temples open in the city. Shah also said that while the state had permitted the opening of bars, restaurants, and theatres, it was being discriminatory in not permitting temples to open.
Advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni opposed the petition. He said that the claim of the petitioners that the five days of Diwali are very important only for the Jain community was baseless as the festival is important for all Hindus. He added hence the petitioners could not seek reliefs solely for their community. Kumbhakoni opposed the request for permitting 102 temples to open saying that the petition was not public interest litigation and hence the two petitioners could not seek relief on behalf of the entire community.
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