CHENNAI: The right to practise religion is certainly subservient to the right to life and when the right to life is threatened, the right to practise religion can take a backseat, the Madras High Court observed on Friday. It refused to entertain a petition that sought full reopening of temples that were shut due to the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.
The bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy was hearing the petition filed by KK Ramesh. The petitioner had also sought complete resumption of bus services in all districts of the state.
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The bench disposed of the plea and observed, "... such a matter would be left to the state to obtain relevant data and expert advice before imposing restrictions or easing them. There does not appear to be any arbitrary action on the part of the state for the court to interfere in the matter."
The court said "baby steps" are being taken to return to normalcy and it is better to err on the side of caution than to open up everything and be caught unawares as the country was when the second wave of COVID-19 struck earlier this year.