Covid-19 | Right to practise religion is subservient to right to life, says Madras High Court

The right to practise religion is definitely subservient to the right to life and when the right to life is threatened, the right to practise religion can take a again seat, the Madras High Court noticed on Friday.

Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy made the statement whereas turning down a plea by the Puucho Dharma Parishad to order reopening of spiritual establishments. The judges wrote, “Ordinarily, even a constitutional court will not interfere in such matters since it may not possess the expertise in deciding what is appropriate and unless it finds the executive action in such regard being utterly arbitrary and completely without basis.”

They noticed that the State would have definitely obtained professional recommendation and thought of related elements, together with the crowding that occurred at non secular locations, whereas persevering with with lockdown restrictions in areas which have been extra severely affected by the second surge of COVID-19.

The Bench additionally rejected one other plea which sought a route to the federal government to resume bus companies. It mentioned such issues have been greatest left to the chief of the State to determine after acquiring related knowledge and professional recommendation earlier than imposing restrictions or easing them.

“As has been repeated almost ad nauseam by this court that baby steps need to be taken to return to normalcy, it is better to err on the side of caution than to open up everything and be caught unawares as the country was when the second surge descended on us,” the Bench mentioned. It, nevertheless, “requested” the State to contemplate all facets, together with the difficulties confronted by strange residents, earlier than deciding to what extent restrictions ought to stay wherever within the State.