Right to practise faith subservient to right to life, says Madras HC

Chennai: The Madras high court on Friday said that the right to practice religion can take a backseat when the right to life is threatened while disposing of a petition that sought re-opening of temples all over the state that were shut due to Covid-19

Chennai: The Madras high court on Friday said that the right to practice religion can take a backseat when the right to life is threatened while disposing of a petition that sought re-opening of temples all over the state that were shut due to Covid-19.

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The bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy didn’t entertain the plea filed by the Hindu Dharma Praishad,

“The right to practice religion is certainly subservient to the right to life and when the right to life is threatened, the right to practice religion can take a backseat,” the court said in its orders.

The court said that they will not interfere in such matters unless it finds the actions of the executive being arbitrary citing a similar matter which appeared earlier on Friday which was also disposed of pertaining to bus services and the restricted operation in certain parts of the state.

The judges noted that there is no doubt that the state has obtained expert advice and considered relevant factors, including the crowding that occurs at religious places, in continuing the restrictions in areas which were more severely affected by the second surge in the pandemic. “Ordinarily, even a constitutional Court will not interfere in such matters, since it may not possess the expertise in deciding what is appropriate and unless it finds the executive action in such regard being utterly arbitrary and completely without basis,” the court said.