NEW DELHI/CHENNAI, JAN 22
The Supreme Court on Monday advised authorities to act in accordance with the law and not to refuse permissions for screenings, pujas on flimsy grounds. Further, the police and State authorities were not bound to act on any “oral orders” to ban the live telecast and special pujas of Lord Ram at Ayodhya and conduct of poojas, archanas and other programmes linked to the event on Monday.
Amidst controversies about the DMK government restricting live telecast and special pujas for Ayodhya pran pratishtha in temples in Tamil Nadu, the state government informed the Supreme Court that no ban has been imposed and the petition was politically motivated.
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Hearing the plea filed by BJP leader, Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta advised authorities to act in accordance with the law and not to refuse permissions for screenings, pujas on flimsy grounds. In the petition, the BJP alleged that the Tamil Nadu government has banned live screenings and special pujas. The bench asked authorities to maintain record of permission granted and those disallowed.
Earlier, Madras High Court on a similar plea observed no permission was needed for functions in private enclosures and held that Bhakti towards God is only for peace and happiness and not to disturb the social equilibrium.
Additional Public Prosecutor A Damodharan informed the High Court that functions conducted in private enclosures like mandapams, private temples and any other private place do not require any permission from the police. However, he added that while conducting such events, there is a possibility of spill over to the place which is accessed by the general public, “the same has to be informed to the police in order to enable the police to take necessary measures to keep the situation under control and to ensure that no disturbance is caused to the free movement of the general public”. The prosecutor informed the court concerned authorities must be informed while conducting such events within temple premises under HR & CE department.
However, Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister, PK Sekar Babu had said on Sunday that the HR & CE Department has not imposed any kind of ban for conduct of puja for Shri Ram. Also, there is no bar to distribute ‘Annadhanam’ and ‘Prasadam.’ He dismissed the claim as false news with ulterior motives.
