4 law students move HC, challenge declaration of public holiday on Monday

The petitioners – Shivangi Agarwal, Satyajeet Salve, Vedant Agarwal and Khushi Bangia – have challenged the validity of the state government’s January 19 notification, purportedly in exercise of powers under Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, declaring January 22 as a public holiday

MUMBAI: Four law students moved the Bombay High Court on Saturday, challenging the Maharashtra government’s decision to declare a public holiday on January 22 to mark the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. A specially constituted division bench of justices Girish Kulkarni and Neela Gokhale will hear the petition in a special seating on Sunday.

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The petitioners – Shivangi Agarwal, Satyajeet Salve, Vedant Agarwal and Khushi Bangia – have challenged the validity of the state government’s January 19 notification, purportedly in exercise of powers under Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, declaring January 22 as a public holiday.

“The petitioners submit that consecration of a temple is an essential religious practice associated with Hindu religion. It cannot be in any manner a concern of the government. Any steps taken by the government including declaration of a public holiday for celebrating the consecration of a Hindu temple is nothing but an act of identifying with a particular religion,” said the petition.

The students further contended that “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.”

Apart from questioning the authority of the state government to declare a public holiday, the petitioners contended that a “holiday can be declared perhaps to commemorate a patriotic personality or historic figure, but not to celebrate consecration of Ram Lalla to appease a particular section of the society or a religious community.”

India has lakhs of temples, including scores of famous ones. “Thousands of more

temples are coming up every day. If the government starts celebrating consecrations of various gods and goddesses in old or newly constructed temples, it would be necessary to

declare a public holiday on each of such days. There are only 365 days in a year and they may not be enough to celebrate such consecrations,” the petition added.