The YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government has recently issued orders imposing a ban on setting up Ganesh pandals in public places and this received a lot of resistance from the opposition TDP, JSP, BJP and public as well.
A lunch motion petition has been filed in the Andhra Pradesh High Court against the state government’s curbs on Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in AP. The High Court heard the case on Wednesday afternoon.
The HC, which heard the case, has supported the state government’s decision on imposing curbs on public celebrations of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival from September 10 to 19.
However, the High Court clarified that Ganesh festival can be held in private places properly following Covid norms. The HC made it clear that governments have no right to prevent religious activities. The court directed that no more than five people should be worshipped at a time as per the Covid-19 regulations.
The High Court also clarified that under Article 26 of the Constitution, citizens have the right to conduct religious activities. But, Covid-19 guidelines imposed by the central and state governments must be complied with.