HC dismisses PIL on commemorative coins

It had questioned legality of ₹5 coins with Vaishno Devi's image issued in 2013

The Delhi High Court on Thursday rejected a petition which had questioned the legality of commemorative ₹5 coins issued by the RBI carrying the image of Hindu goddess Vaishno Devi in 2013.

A Bench of acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar said the issuance of commemorative coins with the image of a Hindu deity embossed on them did not hamper the secular fabric of the nation.

‘No act of favouritism’

“Secularism does not say that you will not issue commemorative coins for any event... There was no act of favouritism or discrimination in the minting of the commemorative coins,” the Bench remarked.

It said the RBI was empowered to issue such coins under the Coinage Act.

The RBI, which is known to issue such coins from time to time, had in 2013 issued the coins to mark the “silver jubilee of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board”.

The legality of such coins had been raised by the High Court earlier but the Centre had then defended itself by saying the coins were issued under the Coinage Act.

The RBI issued seven commemorative coins in 2013, including one to mark 150 years of the Kuka movement.

The court was hearing a petition by Nafis Qazi, contending that by bringing out coins at regular intervals with religious symbols embossed on them, the government was indulging in anti-secular actions.