Law to protect religious structures comes into effect in Karnataka
The bill was passed in September with no opposition from Congress or Janata Dal (S) but was criticised by their leaders as a hasty attempt by the BJP government to make up for the demolition of a Mysuru temple.
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Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot (File)The Karnataka Religious Structures (Protection) Act, which was passed in the state assembly in September, has come into effect following the assent of Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot. The law aims to protect religious structures in public places by preventing demolition.
The law has now been published in the Karnataka Gazette notification. The demolition of a temple in the Mysuru region of Karnataka on September 10 that resulted in a political furore in the state was carried out by “over-enthusiastic officials” without the knowledge of the government, the ruling BJP had said earlier in the Karnataka assembly in the course of a discussion to pass a bill to protect religious structures.
The Karnataka assembly passed the Karnataka Religious Structures (Protection) Bill, 2021 on September 21 night amid criticism from the opposition Congress party that the BJP, which had demolished the Mysuru temple 10 days ago, was trying to shield itself from the anger of rightwing groups by passing the law to protect religious structures identified earlier as illegal.
The Karnataka Religious Structures (Protection) Bill, 2021 was introduced in the assembly by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai with the stated purpose of “protection of religious constructions on a public place constructed before the date of commencement of this Act, in order to protect communal harmony and not hurt the religious sentiments of the public.”
The bill defines an illegal religious structure as a “temple, church, mosque, gurudwara, Bodh vihar, Majar etc, constructed on a public place without authority of law”. The law says that “no religious structure and construction shall be allowed by the state government or any local authority in future on a public place”.
The bill was passed with no opposition from Congress or Janata Dal (S) but was criticised by their leaders as a hasty attempt by the BJP government to make up for the demolition of a Mysuru temple.
The short bill with only eight clauses seeks to protect government actions taken in good faith. “No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against the state government or any officer or other employees of the state government for anything which is done in good faith or intended to be done under this Act,” it says.
The clause was opposed by the opposition saying that it can be used by officials to go ahead with demolitions.
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