HC slams former civil servant for filing case against church

Slamming a former civil servant for filing a case against a church to build temporary walls around an incomplete edifice till reconstruction was over, the Madras High Court said he should have understood constitutional goals of practising tolerance and mutual respect between different religions.
"Petitioner D Murugaiah should have understood the constitutional goals of practising tolerance and mutual respect between people professing different religions before taking the decision to file a case against the church in public interest," a division bench, comprising Justices S Manikumar and C T Selvam, said.
Murugesan, a retired Indian Audit and Accounts Service officer, had filed the petition against permission granted by the district Collector to construct walls around an incomplete building permitted to be used for prayer meetings until reconstruction of a 202-year-old church at Achankulam.

The judges quoted a recent Supreme Court which said that "these days unfortunately some people seem to be perpetually on a short fuse and are willing to protest often violently about anything under the sun...These are dangerous tendencies and must be curbed with an iron hand. We are one nation and must respect each other and should have tolerance".
Writing the judgement, Justice Manikumar recalled that the apex court had also said that every person, whatever his religion, must get an assurance from the state that he has protection of law freely to profess, practise and propagate his religion... Otherwise, the rule of law will be replaced by individual perceptions of one's own presumptuous good social order."

In the present case, the judge said the Collector had on January 6 directed CSI church to stop construction of a new building close to a temple as it was being built without his permission. The same day, he directed the management to demolish and rebuild the old church within 18 months.

The Collector also permitted prayer meetings in the newly -constructed but incomplete building till reconstruction of the old church was complete.
On March 2, he permitted the church to build temporary sidewalls around the incomplete building, facing a stop construction' order, since it was represented that devotees were suffering from sun and rain.

The bench said that the petitioner, a native of Achankulam, had failed to prove his claim that the district administration had succumbed to the church's request only due to the May 16 assembly elections.