SC refuses urgent hearing of plea seeking re-opening of Baba Baidyanath Jyotirlinga temple in Jharkhand

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to give an urgent hearing on a plea seeking a direction to the Jharkhand government to re-open the Baba Baidyanath Jyotirlinga Temple at Deoghar for devotees.

A Bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Aniruddha Bose declined urgent or early hearing of the plea and said the entire world is suffering from the pandemic.

The entry in the Baba Baidyanath Jyotirlinga Temple, commonly referred to as the Baidyanath Dham, were restricted due to COVID-19 protocols.

"Why should we give priority to this? When the whole world is suffering, you want to reopen," said the Bench to the lawyer appearing for the petitioner.

When the lawyer said that the number of COVID-19 cases in Jharkhand was very low and the temple can be considered for re-opening for two months during 'Shravani Mela', CJI said, "Yes, yes, there is no COVID you know."

Baba Baidyanath Jyotirlinga Temple is one of the twelve 'Jyotirlingas' of Lord Shiva.

( With inputs from ANI )