Lord Ram himself destroyed Sethu, Centre tells SC

Arguing on behalf of the Union Government before the bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices R V Raveendran and J M Panchal 8212; the court is hearing a clutch of petitions against the project 8212; senior advocate Fali S Nariman said: 8220;For centuries, nobody has worshipped it and even demanded it be declared a protected monument.8221;

Referring to a section from the Padma Purana, Nariman said it is clearly mentioned that Lord Ram broke the bridge himself in three yojans one yojan is five miles. He said even the Kamba Ramayanam has a reference to this act.

Pushing for completion of the Sethusamudram project at the earliest, Nariman indicated that the possibility of any study on this by the Archaeological Survey of India looked unlikely. 8220;It will take several years together to complete,8221; he contended, highlighting that in the last 150 years, nobody had said anything about it being religious or that it involved faith or that it was not man-made.

He drew the attention of the bench to the Rameshwaram temple where people had been worshipping for centuries but had not asked for its declaration as a protected monument.

8220;The idea of this court is not to act as a supervising or approving authority. It cannot act like an approver to a project of such national significance8230; Declaring a national/ protected monument is not the court8217;s business. It is a legislative act. How can it be a matter of mandamus?8221; Nariman said.

In its modified affidavit filed early this year, the Government had taken the same line that the court should 8220;refrain from interdicting8221; and that opposition to this project on lines of faith was 8220;misconceived and unsubstantiated8221;.

But the court, on its part, indicated that a balance could be drawn between the issue of faith and development. 8220;If you accommodate little faith, it is possible. When alternatives are available, there should be little accommodation of both. You can sort it out,8221; said CJI Balakrishnan after Nariman pointed out how other alignments were rejected due to one factor or another.

Justice Raveendran remarked that 8220;if the Government finds a scientific, technical and politically feasible alternative, then all other issues will be sorted out.8221;

Contending that the present alignment No. 6 was chosen as it was considered best, Nariman said that even the Government was concerned not to cause any damage to the environment or the bridge. 8220;No environmental clearances were given in haste,8221; he said. 8220;We are not destroying any bridge. Everything on the project is being done with great circumspection.8221;

8220;If we have gone wrong, we will correct it. The idea is to go ahead with the project. We have to see there is no violation of law,8221; Nariman said.

Reacting to the Centre8217;s submission in court, the BJP alleged the UPA was 8220;paying a price8221; for the support it received from the DMK during the trust vote.

8220;The UPA is paying for the support it got from the DMK during the trust vote. This is another blow on the sentiments of millions of Hindus in the country,8221; said BJP leader V K Malhotra. The party, he said, would launch a countrywide agitation on the issue.

BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said the UPA government was 8220;playing with fire8221; and 8220;interfering with people8217;s faith8221;.

Party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad, too, said it was a ploy 8220;to play around with Hindu sentiments8221;. 8220;They are now saying Lord Ram destroyed the Sethu when earlier they had said that Lord Ram did not even exist,8221; he said.