Temple Festivals Should Be About Peace and Devotion, Not Power: Madras HC Disposes Of Plea Seeking Police Protection

The Madras High Court disposed of a writ petition that sought to direct the respondents to grant police protection for the Arulmigu Sri Rudhra Maha Kaliamman Temple festival in Sirkali Town. The Court noted that these festivals have become platforms for groups to display their power, rather than promoting peace and devotion, and that the police and revenue departments waste their time and energy resolving such disputes.

The Bench of Justice N. Anand Venkatesh observed, “The time and energy of the Police and Revenue department is unnecessarily wasted in resolving dispute between the groups, who are fighting over their right to conduct the temple festival. The Police and Revenue have got other important functions to perform and their time is wasted by trying to resolve the dispute between two groups who have no devotion to god and are more interested in showing their strength over the other. In the considered view of this Court, the precious time of the Revenue and Police cannot be wasted in disputes of this nature”.

Advocate P. Ayyaswam appeared for the Petitioner and Additional Public Prosecutor A. Damodaran appeared for the Respondent.

The Petitioner was the hereditary trustee of a temple and has been organising a festival every year during the Aadi month. The Petitioner requested police protection to ensure no untoward incidents occurred during the festival. However, the police did not consider the Petitioner's request, so he filed a writ petition with the Court.

The Court noted that the police and revenue departments waste their time and energy resolving disputes between these groups, who are more interested in asserting dominance than genuinely seeking blessings from the deity. The Court asserted that the valuable time of these departments should not be squandered in such conflicts. The Court emphasized "This Court encounters writ petitions of this nature on a daily basis. Every time a temple festival is conducted, there are two groups, who start fighting with each other and it leads to a law and order problem. Hence, every day, writ petitions of this nature are filed before this Court seeking for police protection".

The Court decided not to provide police protection for conducting the temple festival and urged the parties involved to conduct the festival peacefully, putting their egos aside. The Court further directed the police to promptly intervene in case any issues arise during the event and take appropriate action against all involved parties to halt the festival.

“In the light of the above discussions, there is no question of providing police protection for conducting the temple festival. It is left open to the parties to conduct the festival peacefully without their ego coming to the forefront. If any law and order problem is created, the respondent police shall immediately interfere and take action against all persons concerned and shall stop the festival from proceeding any further”, the Court asserted.

Accordingly, the Court disposed of the Petition.

Cause Title: K. Thangarasu @ K. Thangaraj v The Secretary

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