Madras HC: What is paramount, country or religion?

The first bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy made the observation on a batch of pleas moved by Rangarajan Narasimhan from Srirangam seeking restricted entry into Hindu temples.

Of late, the court said, certain forces have raised controversies relating to dress code and it is spreading all over India. “Is it one country or is it divided by religion or something like that. This is quite surprising,” the bench said.

The petitioner demanded orders enforce strict dress code for devotees, disallowing non-Hindus from stepping into the temples across the state and a ban on commercial activities in temple premises. The petition said there should be display boards at the temple entrance prescribing dress code and banning entry of non-Hindus.

Reminding that India is a secular country, the bench wondered how will the question of putting up display boards on dress code arise when no particular dress code exists.

The bench asked the petitioner to produce evidence for his demand, specifying what part of the Agamas (rituals) refer to pants, dhotis and shirts. The court also warned the petitioner from appearing in-person before the court and directed him to use appropriate words.

Meantime, state Advocate General R Shanmugasundaram submitted that every temple follows its own custom and that visitors belonging to other religions are allowed only up to the flag mast.

The court adjourned the hearing for 10 days for the petitioner to point out incidents where such breach was noticed.