Interim Order By The Supreme Court Not To Stop The Biska Jatra

Bhaktapur: The Supreme Court has issued an interim order not to stop the Biska Jatra which is celebrated for eight nights and nine days every year in Bhaktapur. A meeting of the district-level Covid-19 Crisis Management Operations Center (DCCMC) had decided to limit the Jatra festival to formalities and worship, saying that the epidemic could spread during the festival due to the increasing infection of the coronavirus. 

A meeting of Nawaraj Gelal, Chief of District Coordination Committee, Nepal Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, National Investigation Department, Guthi Institute, and District Health Office, chaired by Prem Prasad Bhattarai, Coordinator of the Center, said that the risk of spreading coronavirus has increased. After the decision, advocate Raj Kumar Suwal has filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court demanding the operation of the Jatra.     

A single bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Purushottam Bhandari, has issued an interim order not to stop the Jatra and conduct it. The court issued an interim order against the decision to limit the Jatra to formal worship, saying that crowds pulling chariots and carrying lingo during the Jatra could spread the corona infection.
    
The Bhaktapur Municipality, on the other hand, had called for celebrating Jatra on its road following health standards. The Guthi Sansthan had stopped the construction of the chariot from yesterday after deciding not to use the chariot during the procession. (RSS)