If people cannot peacefully worship in a temple, then it would have to be locked, the Madras High Court has observed.
The First Bench, comprising Chief Justice S.K. Kaul and Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana, passed the order on a PIL by E. Saman of Aalathur colony in Tiruporur taluk, Kancheepuram.
There are two Gangaiyamman temples in the village. Due to a fight between two groups of residents, a peace meeting was held on July 8 last year. Later, one temple was sealed and worship was allowed in the other shrine. The petitioner sought quashing of the peace meeting’s proceedings, and a direction to the collector to remove the seal on the temple.
The Bench observed: “We note with regret the divisiveness in society to an extent that even over the issue of worshipping in temples, there is a fight. No god demands that people should fight over worshipping him. If people cannot peacefully worship, then the temple would have to be locked.”
The administrator took the right decision in locking the temple, the Bench said, and dismissed the plea.
