Chennai

Shrines in the state are closed on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in view of the covid pandemic situation.

The vacation bench of Justices R Mahadevan and Abdul Quddhose said this when a PIL petition praying for a direction to the government to keep the temples in the state open on the auspicious Vijayadasami day, came up today.

"We leave it open to the government to decide,” the judges said.

Earlier, Advocate-General R Shanmugasundaram told the bench that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has convened a meeting with experts on October 13 to consider the possibility of lifting the restriction of keeping the temples closed during the weekends.

He also added that the restriction was imposed following a communication from the Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan in September, which advised the State government to strictly impose the restrictions in view of the rise in new cases of covid-19. The letter also pointed out that in the months ahead several festivals are coming up. This is a critical period, when the Covid-19 protocols are to be strictly adhered to, the letter had stated.

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