The High Court of Karnataka on Friday disposed of a PIL petition, which alleged that hosting of a Ramzan Iftar dinner by the State Advocate-General on the court’s premises amounted to allowing religious events there.
A Division Bench made it clear that “neither permission was sought for [by the office of the Advocate-General], nor any granted by the High Court’s administration for holding the Iftar dinner.”
The petitioner, city-based advocate N.P. Amrutesh, had alleged that the High Court administration was “learnt to have permitted” the AG’s office to organise the dinner on the court’s premises.
The Bench said “there was reference of Ramzan Iftar dinner but no reference of a mass prayer in the invitation”, a copy which was presented to the court by the petitioner. The Court also recorded the statement of Additional Advocate-General A.S. Ponnanna that “it was a personal dinner hosted by A-G Ravivarma Kumar at his cost and the State government was not involved in it.”
The petitioner had pointed out the use of the State government emblem in the dinner invitation.
