The Jharkhand high court on Friday refused to scrap the prohibitory orders issued by the Deoghar administration for Shivratri festival on Saturday.
Disposing of the petition filed by Nishikant Dubey, BJP MP from Godda, the bench of acting chief justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, however, directed the district administration to make public announcement about the intended restrictions to avoid any confusion.
Prohibitory orders disallow assemblage of people.
“The court said the Shiv Barat would follow the route designated by the Deoghar district administration. The route is being followed since 1993-94. The court spoke to the Deoghar district collector and sought clarity on imposition of prohibitory orders. It was clarified that the restriction has been put in place only to ensure that no other route is taken for Shiv Barat, which could cause law and order problem,” said Jharkhand’s advocate general Rajiv Ranjan, who appeared for the state in the case.
Dubey on Thursday had moved court seeking quashing of imposition of prohibitory orders on the Shivratri (February 18) by the Deoghar district administration for better crowd management in the temple town which would witnesses lakhs of devotees flocking to Baba Baidyanath temple.
