Participation of an individual practising a specific religion in celebrations of festivals of different religions doesn’t offend the non secular rights of anybody, dominated the Karnataka Excessive Court docket Monday.
A division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C M Joshi made the statement in its order dismissing pleas filed by Pratap Simha, a former BJP MP from Mysore, and others difficult the state authorities’s invitation to Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq for the inauguration of the 2025 Dasara festivities in Mysore.
The counsels for the petitioners argued that it was not acceptable to ask Mushtaq to the inaugural perform, as lively participation in Hindu non secular rituals was concerned. It was additionally argued that she had made a speech that was an affront to Hindus and Kannada, and the invitation prolonged to her was a violation of Article 25 (the appropriate to profess and follow faith) and 26 (freedom to handle non secular affairs) of the Structure.
Among the many different arguments introduced was that solely a Hindu needs to be allowed to carry out the inaugural rituals, which needed to be performed in line with Agamic traditions and with choices to the Goddess Chamundeswari.
Opposing these contentions, Advocate Common Shashikiran Shetty argued for the federal government that Mushtaq is an acclaimed writer invited to a state perform the place there may very well be no discrimination primarily based on faith or caste. He additionally identified that in 2017, the late Kannada author and poet Nisar Ahmed was invited for the perform, the place Pratap Simha himself had been current.
The AG additional contended that the festivities in query weren’t a spiritual perform by a specific temple however have been sponsored by the state.
The court docket didn’t agree with the petitioner’s competition that their non secular rights have been violated. “The petitioner’s proper to follow and propagate faith just isn’t curtailed in any method by extending invitation to respondent No. 4 (Msuhtaq) to inaugurate the Dasara festivities,” the bench mentioned within the detailed order launched Tuesday.
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The court docket additional mentioned that nobody managing a spiritual denomination had come ahead to say any violation of their proper to handle a spiritual establishment.
Dismissing the petitions in opposition to Mushtaq’s participation within the inauguration, the court docket mentioned, “Within the current case, we’re unable to just accept that any authorized or constitutional proper of the petitioners is violated by extending the invitation to respondent No. 4 to inaugurate the state-sponsored Dasara festivities.”
“Participation of an individual working towards a specific religion or faith, in celebrations of festivals of different faith doesn’t offend the rights out there underneath the Structure of India. In our view, the extension of invitation to respondent No. 4 doesn’t fall foul of any of the values enshrined within the Structure of India,” it added.