Bombay High Court rejects plea of 4 students against holiday on January 22

Four law students had approached the court on Saturday against the Maharsahtra government decision to grant holiday on Monday.

The Bombay High Court on Sunday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by four law students opposing Maharashtra government's order of declaring January 22, 2024 as a holiday on account of Ram Mandir Pran Prathishta ceremony in Ayodhya, reported news agency ANI.

The Bombay high court (File)

A special bench of the high court of Justices GS Kulkarni and Neela Gokhale while rejecting the plea of four law students who had approached the court against the Maharashtra government order, said that the PIL was a publicity oriented petition and observed that such exercise of power by the State is not arbitrary but in consonance with the secular principles, as quoted by Bar and Bench.

"It is difficult for us to believe that law students who are yet to enter this profession have made such allegations as mentioned in the petition. We have no doubt that this PIL has been filed for extraneous reasons. It is as rightly contended to us it appears to be absolutely frivolous and does not deserve the attention of court," the bench said.

"The consistent view of courts is that such decision falls in the realm of executive decision," it added.

The four students--Shivangi Agarwal, Satyajeet Siddharth Salve, Vedant Gaurav Agarwal and Khushi Sandeep Bangia -- from MNLU, Mumbai, GLC and NIRMA law school filed a PIL challenging order saying that declaring a public holiday to celebrate a religious event violated the principles of secularism enshrined in the Constitution.

"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 said, as quoted by LiveLaw.

Maharashtra is among the states that have declared a public holiday on the occasion of the pran-pratishtha ceremony of Lord Ram Lalla in the newly built Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya on January 22.

Several other states including Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh have declared half-holiday, closure of schools. Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh government have announced a public holiday on the occasion. Central government offices will also have a half working day on January 22.