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In order to avoid the communal clashes that have erupted by the conduct of religious events in public, the Madras High Court has recently declared that the organizers of religious events must present a written undertaking to ensure that during the conduct of the event no hate speech or statements offensive to other religions were made. A breach of this undertaking would attract immediate prosecution of the speaker and the organizers.
Justice N Seshasayee in Madurai Bench was driven to issue an order to this effect in dealing with a petition challenging the denial of permission to hold a religious convention in the village of Kanchiracode, Tamil Nadu.
“A direction to an authority to do what he may have to do belong to him, and this Court may not be interested to interfere with it unless palpable arbitrariness is displayed or malafide of the action is self-evident. Ordinarily, this Court merely directs the authority to consider any representation requiring him to do what is to be done. And, here there is not going to be any variance to the general norm adopted by the Court.’’
The Constitution has secured to everyone to praise their religion, but not to abuse another.
Justice Seshasayee emphasized that the organizers of religious events have a responsibility to ensure that the secular atmosphere is not violated in the surrounding area of the event. The Court felt an urgent need to inculcate responsibility among active practitioners of all religions to ensure that they hold their religious meeting, congregation or convention without violating the Constitutional spirit of secularism because not everyone seems to take it seriously. While the Courts remain neutral, they do not allow themselves to be blindfolded by the events that surround them.
The Court further reminded that the freedom of religion guaranteed by the Constitution is not absolute to allow the unrestrained domination of one religion over the other. The secular spirit as enshrined in the Constitution has not given a citizen a free right to profess, practice or propagate his own religion and faith, or any open space to demonstrate the dominance of one religion over the other.
The framers of the Constitution did not declare the equality of the fundamental right to profess, practice and propagate religion, but have introduced the restriction which limits the right to freedom of religion, inter alia to public order and other statutory provisions of Part III of the Constitution. Article 19 (2) also emphasizes public order as a limiting factor of the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression.
According to the Preamble of the Constitution India is a secular Republic. However, without establishing equality in the conscience of the citizens, it is not possible. It can reduce public order concerning both Article 25(1) and Article 19(2) of the Constitution in empty expressions. But if this equality is disturbed then it would encroach the freedom of conscience guaranteed to all the citizens of the country as held in Rev. Stanislaus Vs State of Madhya Pradesh &Another.
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