CHENNAI: “What is paramount? The country or the religion? It is shocking that somebody is going behind a hijab and somebody is going behind a dhoti. Is this one country or is it divided by religion?” the Madras high court wondered while hearing a PIL seeking restricted entry into Hindu temples.
The court was hearing a batch of PILs seeking to permit only believers of ‘sanatana dharma’ into Hindu temples.
Appropriate dress code for devotees entering temples sought
The first bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy made the observation on a batch of PILs filed to permit only believers of 'sanatana dharma' into Hindu temples and to bar atheists. The petitioner also wanted the court to direct the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department to ensure appropriate dress code is followed by the devotees who enter the temples.
The court adjourned the hearing pertaining to dress code after 10 days for the petitioner to point out incidents where such breach was noticed.
This apart, the bench dismissed another plea moved by Ranagarajn claiming that the live telecast of prime minister's event re-dedicating Adi Sankara's samadhi, in the premises of 16 HR&CE temples last month was illegal as it violated HR&CE rules. Rejecting the plea, the court said: "The live telecast of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at Kedarnath in Uttarakhand last month was not for political propagation or agenda." The petitioner has taken one paragraph out of context and without taking note of what the theme of the speech was, the judges said. "Therefore, this petition cannot be entertained," the court added.
Earlier, advocate-general R Shunmugasundaram informed the court that permission was granted for the live telecast of PM's speech after the state received a letter in this regard from the union government.
