The Bombay High Court of India recently held a special hearing where a public interest litigation was dismissed. This petition, lodged by four law students, questioned the decision of the Maharashtra government to declare January 22 a public holiday to mark the consecration ceremony of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. The judgment was delivered by a special bench of the High Court, comprising Justices GS Kulkarni and Neela Gokhale, in Shivangi Agarwal & Ors. v. the Union of India & Ors. More details here
The petitioners presented an argument that the government’s decision was both arbitrary and against national public and economic interests. Moreover, they took the stance that it stood contrary to the secular principles of the Constitution of India. Article 25 of India’s Constitution, they noted, offers citizens freedom of religion and mandates equal respect for all religions.
However, the bench dismissed these assertions as politically motivated and an abuse of the process of law. They described the petition as frivolous and further stated that such decisions fall within the purview of executive authority.
In 2019, the Supreme Court of India had delivered a ruling on the long-standing debate about the Ayodhya land. This site was traditionally held to be the birthplace of the Hindu deity Ram, a claim contested by Muslims due to the location of the Babri Masjid, built in the sixteenth century by Mughal Emperor Babur. The mosque was demolished by thousands of Hindu worshippers in 1992, who subsequently attempted to erect a makeshift temple in its place. Read more about the verdict here
The apex court’s decision resolved the conflict by allocating the land for the construction of a Ram temple and allotting five acres of land elsewhere in Ayodhya for the erection of a mosque as a replacement for Babri Masjid.
The Maharashtra government on January 19, using authority conferred by the Ministry of Home Affairs, announced a public holiday on January 22 to commemorate the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple. Other states, including Goa, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh, also declared public holidays for the occasion.