A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice A S Anand, Justice M Srinivasan and Justice N Santosh Hegde modified a Jammu and Kashmir High Court order directing the state government to keep the Baltal route open on a permanent basis.

The HC order came on a batch of public interest petitions, challenging the regulations made by the state government for the conduct of the yatra. In an appeal challenging the High Court order as impracticable, the state government, in an affidavit, had taken the stand that the Amarnath shrine, unlike Vaishno Devi, was not visited throughout the year.