Right To Practice Religion Is Subservient To Right To Life: Madras High Court Disposes Of Plea Seeking Reopening Of Temples

The Madras High Court today observed that the right of citizens to practice religion is subservient to their right to life and thus, the Court dismissed a plea seeking reopening of temples across Tamil Nadu.

The Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy also observed that when the right to life is under a threat, the right to practice religion will have to take a backseat. 

The Court observed that "citizens to practice religion is subservient to their right to life and when the right to life is under a threat". With this, the Court declined to entertain a plea filed in the nature of Public Interest Litigation (PIL).

Further, the Court also observed that the Court can't interfere in matters such as these as it is within the exclusive domain of the State to make the decision as to whether it should open the temples or not.

The Bench also stressed that Court's interference is warranted only where State's action is found to be utterly arbitrary or completely without basis.

The Court also stated that the decision to close down temples/impose restrictions must have been taken after taking into account various factors and it must have obtained expert advice and thus, it was in its right to impose reasonable restrictions. 

In another matter, wherein the Petitioner sought resumption of the public transport system in some parts of the State, the bench remarked that:

"State has taken a conscious decision to open the transport system with restrictions. The restrictions will be gradually eased. The decision is left to the State Govt."

The Court also noted that the state was taking "baby steps" to get back to being normal.