MADURAI: Questioning the condition of thousands of temples that are facing negligence, the Madurai Bench of the Madras HC asked whether they should continue to be under the thumb of the government.
Quashing two defamation cases against an activist,
Rangarajan Narasimhan, upon whom FIRs were registered on the charges of spreading defamatory allegations against the Srirangam Ranganatha Swamy Temple management on the social media, Justice GR Swaminathan said, “Should not the government, professing to be secular, treat all religious institutions on par? Are not knowledgeable and committed activists like TR Ramesh justified in arguing that the government should exercise the same degree and level of control over temples as are exercised over churches and mosques?”
Pointing out at Venu Srinivasan, on whom the petitioner had raised allegation against on social media, is a recipient of Padma Bhushan and also ex-chairman of the board of trustees of Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple, the Judge noted that he has spent his time, money and energy for the restoration of many temples and was hailed by the Vice President of India.
Pointing out that an FIR cannot be registered for the offence under Section 500 of IPC and that Section 45 of the Information Technology Act provides only a civil remedy and is not a penal provision, the Judge said the petitioner has not pitted one group against the other.
Justice Swaminathan also commended the Judicial Magistrate S Somasundaram, who refused to remand the petitioner when he was initially arrested by the Srirangam police.