Respecting god should be one’s habit and it cannot be controlled or regulated through any court order, the Delhi High Court said on Wednesday.
A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar was hearing a plea alleging that pictures of gods were being put up only with a view to prevent people from urinating or throwing waste, without realising that it would hurt the sentiments of devotees.
The Bench stated that no public interest litigation was needed to show respect to god. “We as citizens should know where to put god’s pictures,” the Bench said.
“This should be our habit. A citizen’s habit cannot be controlled by a court order,” it said and suggested to the counsel for the petitioner to run awareness campaigns to ensure that such pictures are not put up on the boundary walls of parks and other places.
The plea by Delhi resident Raju Mehra sought direction to the civic bodies to remove the pictures of gods and goddesses from the boundary walls of parks and keep them in places of worship. The petition also action against authorities stating they had failed to perform their duties.
Expressing concern over the issue, the Bench asked the civic bodies and other authorities to ensure that the petitioner’s grievance was urgently addressed.
