The Calcutta High Court decision to extend the deadline set by the police for immersion of household idols on October 11 (Vijayadasami) has come as a relief to the public and an embarrassment to the Trinamool Congress government.
An order delivered by Justice Dipankar Datta on Thursday said: “There has been a clear endeavour on the part of the State government to pamper and appease the minority section of the public at the cost of the majority section without there being any plausible justification.”
Two separate judgments by the High Court on Thursday set aside the Kolkata police directive to complete the immersion by 4 p.m. on October 11, the day before Muharram.
Deadline extended
While hearing a public interest litigation petition, a division bench of Chief Justice Girish Gupta and Justice Arindam Sinha extended the deadline till 6 p.m. on Dasami. On the same day, while hearing a PIL plea by the Dhar family of Burrabazar, Justice Dipankar Datta allowed immersion of household idols till 8.30 p.m. on October 11.
The Kolkata police had also directed that there would be no immersion the next day because of Muharram. Immersion will resume on October 13. Justice Datta said there was no decision prohibiting immersions beyond 4 p.m. and added, “illegal deprivation or encroachment thereof by the administration, deserves to be interdicted for protecting their right”.
The judgment said: “ Immersion on Bijoya Dashami is such a ritual for puritan Hindus that the same cannot be postponed to a day beyond Bijoya Dashami or preponed at the whims and caprices of the State government.” The judgment also noted that even in the past such situations emerged when “Muharram was observed on the day following Bijoya Dashami but no restriction of the nature impugned herein was imposed.”
The court’s advice to the government was that it was “dangerous to mix politics with religion”. “We, the people of India, boast of being a secular nation but the actions of some States are in deviation of the constitutional norms and principles. No decision ought to be taken that would have the potential of pitting one community against another.”
Published - October 08, 2016 02:17 am IST
