The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Rath Yatra to be held in Puri from Tuesday but imposed a slew of restrictions, such as a ban on “public attendance”, the closure of all entry points at the town and a curfew.

On June 18, the same three-judge bench had denied permission for the festival saying “Lord Jagannath will not forgive us” if it allowed the widely attended event amid the Covid-19 crisis.

But the bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde modified the order after the Centre argued the nine-day festival involved the “faith (of) crores of people” and suggested the public could be kept out with only temple servitors and the police participating.

The bench, which included Justices A.S. Bopanna and Dinesh Maheswari, asked the Centre, Odisha government and the Puri Jagannath Temple management to ensure suitable restrictions, saying: “We are not going to micromanage the yatra.”

However, the order later uploaded on the court website spelled out a raft of conditions, such as:

All entry points into Puri town — road, air or rail — must be closed and curfew imposed on all the days the chariots are pulled and at any other time the state government deems necessary. The curfew shall begin at 8pm on Monday.

Each chariot (on its 2.5km journey) shall be pulled by not more than 500 people, all of whom must have tested coronavirus-negative.(The state government later said that 1,500 temple servitors and 50 police platoons — about 5,000 personnel — would participate. They would be the ones pulling the chariots.)

There will be an interval of an hour between consecutive chariots.

Each of those pulling a chariot shall maintain social distancing before, during and after the event.

Only coronavirus-negative people must conduct the associated rituals and they must maintain social distancing.

The state must keep a record of who is participating, along with details of their medical conditions after testing. The rituals and the yatra will be televised.

Each member of the temple administration committee will be responsible for compliance, as will be the officials designated by the state to help conduct the event.

The court reminded the state about the possible consequences of failing to impose the restrictions rigorously, saying: “We are informed that in the 18th-19th century a yatra of this kind was responsible for the spread of cholera and plague....”

It said it had passed the earlier order after being told “it would be well nigh impossible to ensure that there is no congregation”.

Now, after the temple administration said “it might be possible” to conduct the event “in a limited way without public attendance”, it had modified the order.

After the June 18 order, the Odisha cabinet had passed a resolution deciding to implement it rigorously.

But this led to public anger, and several petitions were moved seeking a modification of the order.

The turning point was a flip-flop by Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb, scion of the Puri royal family and head of the temple administration, who had earlier welcomed the court decision.

Apparently under public pressure, he changed his stand and criticised the state government for failing to communicate to the court the temple management’s decision of holding the event without devotees.

On Saturday night, Deb wrote to chief minister Naveen Patnaik. On Monday morning, the state government filed its petition.

Earlier in the morning, Union home minister Amit Shah had spoken to Deb and said the Centre would extend all help for the conduct of the Rath Yatra.

Although the apex court began a 10-day summer vacation from Monday, the bench held a hearing through videoconferencing to consider the fresh pleas, filed by the Centre, state government, temple management board and others, including a Muslim petitioner, Aftab Hossen.

Solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, argued that the centuries-old tradition may not be stopped as “it is a matter of faith for crores of people”.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the Odisha government, supported Mehta’s plea.

Hossen’s petition made a point that Mehta articulated in court -- that according to tradition, if the Rath Yatra is cancelled one year, it cannot be performed for the next 12 years.

The Daitapati Niyoga, an organisation of the servitors, said the event had not been cancelled “in the last 284 years” despite a famine in 1866 and cholera epidemics. Scrapping it now would “invoke the wrath of Lord Jagannath”.

The state government later announced a complete shutdown of Puri town, and the closure of all entry points, from Monday night to 2pm on Wednesday.

Some people hurled eggs at the Bhubaneswar home of Odisha Vikash Parishad president Sushant Pandhi, whose earlier petition seeking the cancellation of the Rath Yatra had led to the June 18 order.

Shah seeks credit

The Centre and the BJP on Monday sought to project the permission for the Rath Yatra as an achievement of Prime Narendra Modi.

Home minister Amit Shah tweeted: “It makes me, as well as crores of devotees across India happy that PM @narendramodi not only understood the sentiments of the devotees but also initiated consultations, which ensured that the great traditions of our land are observed.

“Last evening, as per the instructions of PM @narendramodi, I spoke to Gajapati Maharaj Ji (The King of Puri) and the respected Shankaracharya Ji of Puri and sought their views on the Yatra. This morning, on the PM’s instructions, I also spoke to the Solicitor General.

“Considering the urgency and importance of the matter, it was placed in front of a vacation bench of the Supreme Court and the hearing took place this afternoon, which paved the way for the important decision by the SC.”