The Kerala High Court has asked the Chief Secretary and the State Police Chief to issue orders to prevent the illegal functioning of religious places and prayer halls.
No religious places and prayer halls should be allowed to function without obtaining permission from the competent authorities, and all such illegal halls and religious places should be shut down, Justice P. V. Kunhikrishnan said in the order.
Dismissing a petition filed by Noorul Islam Samskarika Sangham, Thottekkad, Amarambalam, seeking to change a commercial building in its possession into a Muslim place of worship, the court asked the State authorities to consider the applications to start religious places and prayer halls strictly and issue the approval only in appropriate cases.
The Chief Secretary should issue a circular prohibiting the change of category of a building to a religious place/ prayer hall except in inevitable circumstances and only in the rarest of rare cases. A report from the police and intelligence wing ascertaining the ground realities of that particular place should be obtained during the process, the court directed.
The court noted that there were 36 mosques within the vicinity of the commercial building of the petitioner. There was no need for another mosque in that vicinity and the devotees could go to the nearby mosques.
Though Article 26 (a) of the Constitution states that subject to the public order, morality and health, every religious denomination or any section thereof shall have the right to establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes, it does not mean that they can construct religious places in every nook and corner of the country, the court observed.
The State has 10 times higher number of religious structures than the total number of its villages.
The number of places of worship in the State is almost 3.5 times higher than the number of hospitals. If any religious places and prayer halls are allowed in Kerala without any guidelines, there will be no place for the citizens to reside. The government and the local bodies should be vigilant while granting permission for religious places and prayer halls, the court directed.
While considering the change of occupancy of existing buildings from one category to the category of religious places, rejection should be the rule. If every devotee of the different religions start constructing religious places and prayer halls near their residence, the State will face serious consequences, including communal disharmony, the court felt.
