There is a Constitutional obligation to preserve religious practices, SC

The Supreme Court Bench of Justices Arun Mishra and UU Lalit recently emphasised that there is a Constitutional obligation to preserve religious practices. .The Court made the observation while disposing of a petition dealing with the preservation of the Jyotirlingam (idol symbolic of Lord Shiva) at the Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh..The judgment, authored by Justice Arun Mishra, states,.“There is a constitutional obligation to preserve the religious practices of all religions, culture and there is also a corresponding duty to act in that direction. Similarly, such acts which are necessary for the preservation of such historical monuments/deities.”.The petition had pointed out that the Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlingam was deteriorating, owing to constant contact with adulterated substances brought by devotees, among other factors. This eventually prompted the Court to constitute an Expert Committee to check on its restoration, in addition to calling for suggestions from the Temple Committee..It was noted that unless steps are take to ensure their maintenance, festivals conducted to honour such deities would also be meaningless..“State is bound to spend the amount so that not only the archaeological, historical ancient monuments are preserved by sanctum sanctorum, as well as the deity otherwise no useful purpose would be served by spending so much amount on Simhastha/Kumbh Melas in case deity, is itself permitted to be deteriorated as it has happened at other places…”.The particular significance of the Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlingam was also emphasised thus,.“Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlingam has so much importance for spiritual and other gains, there is is a constitutional duty to protect it as envisaged in Article 25, Art. 26 read with Article 49, at the same time there is a fundamental duty under Article 51A of the Constitution to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood as provided in Article 51A and to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture.”.Notably, the Court has emphasised repeatedly that its directions are not meant to interfere with religious practices, as earlier media reports in the matter appear to have indicated. Referring to an earlier order in the case passed last November, the Court reiterated,.“As it was noticed that misrepresentation was being made with respect to the order passed by this Court and unrest was tried to be created on the ground that this Court is interfering with the religious rituals to be performed in the temple during Pooja. Thus we have clarified that we have not interfered with the same….…The only objective entertaining the writ petition on the aforesaid question was just to ensure that all rituals which may be necessary be performed however to ensure that the Lingam does no deteriorate any further.”.Accordingly, the Court has made it clear that it is up to the discretion of the Temple Committee to decide how the puja should be conducted, keeping in mind the goal of preserving the temple structures..“It is not within the jurisdiction of this Court to dictate or to prescribe or retrain the religious practices and Pujas to be performed in temple. They are required to be performed, as rightly pointed out, in accordance with ancient rituals and practices…”.However, the Court emphasised that the use of adulterated materials for offerings is improper and cannot be permitted to be part of the ritual, otherwise the very purpose of puja would be defeated. All the same, the Court left it to the Temple Committee to take appropriate steps to address these issues..“Lingam cannot be permitted to be destroyed by chemical reactions of impure materials…[it] cannot be allowed and as are done innocently by the people unaware of ill effect on Lingam….…Let the Temple Committee and other stakeholders rise to the occasion and take positive steps in this direction in reasonable time.”.The Court has therefore directed that the recommendations passed by the Temple Committee and the Expert Committee be implemented in a time bound manner..Among other recommendations, a Heritage Cell has also been proposed for the maintenance and restoration of the temple structures. While implementing these measures, the Court has also directed that efforts be made to ensure that the heritage look of the temple is maintained..“It is also directed that let them make an effort for the preservation of historical monument the new development work if any, should only be made to match with ancient nature of the temple so that its heritage look is maintained.” .Before parting with the case, the Court has also warned that any further misreporting would be viewed seriously and sternly with appropriate consequences. It had passed a similar order warning against misreporting of the case in November last year..Read judgment below: