Don’t interfere with a person’s right to keep, worship idol of choice: Madras high court

CHENNAI: The govt cannot interfere with a person’s right to keep any idol on his own premises and worship peacefully by himself or by inviting willing friends or neighbours, Madras high court has ruled.“God or an idol will never harm any human being, and such beliefs are only superstitions and cannot be said to be in tune with the principles of bhakthi or science,” Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy said on Saturday.The court made the observations since the idols of ‘Sivasakthi Dhakshiswari, Vinayagar and Veerabhadran’ kept in the house of A Karthik at Ennore, Chennai, were removed on the ground that there were unnatural deaths in the area after the installation of the idols.“The public cannot take the law into their own hands by the majority might. The state authorities cannot give in to such superstitions and false beliefs,” the court said.Directing the authorities to return the removed idols, the court observed that the authorities were at liberty to take action against the petitioner if there was any construction made without permission from the local authority.Any worship by the petitioner cannot be in a manner that disturbs the local public. There cannot be use of any loudspeaker or causing any kind of noise pollution or disturbance to the vicinity. If such an act is done to disturb the local public, upon receipt of the complaint, the local police are entitled to act, the judge said.The court added that it was needless to mention that if any ‘Hundi’ is kept, it will entitle the authorities of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) Department to inspect the temple and take action in the manner known to law.