Testing times

Testing times

The Kanwar Yatra, a potential COVID-19 super-spreader, is a tricky issue for the UP CM.

It is now the turn of the Kanwar Yatra to test the relations between the judiciary and the executive and that of the Centre and the States. The Yatra has the potential to be a COVID-19 super-spreader like the Kumbh Mela ended up being. A tussle is emerging on the Uttar Pradesh Government’s insistence on holding the pilgrimage this year, even if as a limited-edition show. For Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, it is a toss between allowing the Yatra in violation of safety protocols and banning a Hindu religious event with Assembly elections close by. The Yatra draws millions of people, especially the youth, and from the countryside. It is a strong polariser, given the religious current it generates in the Hindi belt. The fact that a senior police officer showered petals on the yatris some years ago — he now occupies a top position in Lucknow — shows the State’s sanction to the event. It also comes when the Yogi Government has just recovered from a spate of criticism over the initial handling of the second COVID wave. Yogi subsequently asserted that the Government had managed to bring the situation under control and reduced the positive cases to a trickle. He may be wanting to test the efficacy of his Government’s preparedness during the Yatra, if the Government’s ongoing preparations are any indication.

As far as Centre-State relations go, Yogi finds himself facing both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on the Yatra issue. Modi has recently cautioned against mass congregation of people. Shah’s Ministry has asked the States to shed complacency and take steps to control crowding. No doubt, the Yatra will figure when both Modi and Yogi meet during the former’s visit to his Varanasi constituency on Thursday. However, a situation appears to be developing between the judiciary and the State executive over the Yatra. The Supreme Court has taken suo moto cognisance and issued a notice to the UP Government over its decision to allow the Yatra. Interestingly, the order comes on the same day as an observation by another Bench of the court, in another context, that the judiciary should not interfere in the domain of the executive as per the principles of separation of power. It is to be seen if the UP Government’s reply to the notice runs along the same lines. For, in April, the Yogi Government approached the Supreme Court against the Allahabad High Court order for declaring lockdown in five cities in the State, saying it was not within the judiciary’s jurisdiction to order a lockdown. The apex court granted an interim stay. The Government thereafter ordered the lockdown, but after the panchayat elections were completed. Can the State Government afford to use the logic of the judiciary’s jurisdiction in its reply to the SC’s notice? On the other hand, can an issue of greater public good or a national disaster supersede jurisdictional issues?