Law Students Move Bombay High Court Challenging Maharashtra Govt's Declaration Of Public Holiday For Ram Mandir Consecration On Jan 22

Four law students have filed a PIL in the Bombay High Court challenging the Maharashtra government's notification declaring January 22, 2024 a public holiday for the consecration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

A special bench of Justices GS Kulkarni and Neela Gokhale has been constituted to hear the matter tomorrow. 

The petitioners are students from MNLU, Mumbai, GLC and NIRMA law school. Their plea contends that declaring a public holiday to celebrate a religious event violates the principles of secularism enshrined in the Constitution. It argues that the state cannot associate with or promote any particular religion.

"An act of the Government in celebrating and openly participating in the consecration of a Hindu temple thereby associating with a particular religion is nothing but a direct attack on the principles of secularism," the petition states.

The petitioners quote previous Supreme Court judgments that have upheld secularism as a basic feature of the Constitution. It argues that the notification goes against this constitutional mandate.

"The Hon'ble Supreme Court in S.R. Bommai v. Union of India has held that any State Government which pursues an unsecular course, contrary to the constitutional mandate, renders itself amenable to action under Article 356 of the Constitution that subjects them to dismissal," the petition highlights.

The petitioners also contend that the notification is politically motivated, with an eye on the 2024 parliamentary elections.

"It is not just a mere coincidence that the consecration is scheduled just prior to the 2024 Parliamentary elections. What is more starkling is that the Hon'ble Supreme Court while directing the constitution of a public trust for supervising the construction of the Ram Temple had further directed allotment of 5 acres separate land to the Sunni Waqf Board for construction of the mosque. Although the land has been allotted, the construction of the said mosque has not yet started," the petition states.

In addition, the petition challenges the Maharashtra government's jurisdiction in issuing the notification under Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. It argues that only the central government has the power to notify public holidays under this provision.

“Any policy regarding declaration of public holidays cannot be at the whims and fancies of the political party in power. Holiday can be declared perhaps to commemorate a patriotic personality or historic figure but not to celebrate consecration of Ram lalla to appease a particular section of the society or religious community.”

The petition is filed by law students Shivangi Agarwal, Satyajeet Siddharth Salve, Vedant Gaurav Agrawal and Khushi Sandeep Bangia.