PIL Challenges Holiday Declared by Maharashtra Government for Ram Mandir Consecration
Mumbai: Four law students on Saturday moved the Bombay High Court challenging the state government’s decision to declare a public holiday on Monday for the consecration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The Public Interest Litigation contends that declaring a public holiday to celebrate a religious event violates the principles of secularism enshrined in the Constitution.
Law students Shivangi Agarwal, Satyajeet Siddharth Salve, Vedant Gaurav Agrawal and Khushi Sandeep Bangia have sought the constitution of a special bench to hear the matter on Sunday. According to reports, a bench of Justice Girish S Kulkarni and Justice Neela K Gokhale is likely to hear the plea.
The petition argues that the state cannot associate with or promote any particular religion. “An act of the Government in celebrating and openly participating in the consecration of a Hindu temple thereby associating with a particular religion is nothing but a direct attack on the principles of secularism,” the petition states.
Urging the high court to quash the notification issued by the state government on Friday, the petition says that “any policy regarding declaration of public holidays cannot be at the whims and fancies of the political party in power”.
The petition further says that the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony is being held before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, which is not merely a coincidence. It also points that though five acre land has been given to Sunni Waqf Board for a mosque as per the SC order, but the construction of the mosque has not even started yet.
Citing a Supreme Court observation in the S.R. Bommai case, the petition says, “The Supreme Court in S.R. Bommai v. Union of India has held that any State Government which pursues an unsecular course, contrary to the constitution mandate, renders itself amenable to action under Article 356 of the Constitution that subjects them to dismissal.”
The PIL contends that declaring a holiday to celebrate the Ram Mandir’s consecration was “nothing but expending from Government exchequer for religious purposes which is expressly prohibited by Article 27 (no person can be taxed for promoting a religion or maintaining a religious institution) of the Constitution”.
