Justice G R Swaminathan of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday summoned the Dindigul Collector S. Saravanan and Superintendent of Police A. Pradeep to appear before him in a contempt of court case.
The court was hearing a contempt petition filed by a litigant V. Sithan Balraj, who had sought permission to conduct Karthigai Dheepam festival at the Mandu Kovil which is in the immediate vicinity of Kaliamman temple at Perumal Kovilpatti in Dindigul District. On December 2, the court had permitted the conduct of the event.
The Dindigul Collector, however, issued prohibitory orders under Section 163(1) of BNSS. The State submitted that a volatile situation prevailed on the ground warranting clamping of prohibitory orders.
Justice Swaminathan, however, said in the village in question, Christians are in majority and Hindus are in minority and all that the Hindu community wanted is to be allowed to celebrate Karthigai Deepam in a place recognised as Mandu Kovil in the revenue record itself. There is also a ‘Peedam’ in the said site.
The judge had earlier said by permitting the Hindu community to celebrate the event for a few hours on December 3 and December 4, the rights of the Christian community will not in any way be affected. This is all the more so because the Christian community has no claim over the said site. The right of any Hindu of Perumal Kovilpatti to offer worship and celebrate the religious festival is definitely a fundamental right recognised by Article 25 of the Constitution.
