CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has held that a house cannot be converted into a prayer meeting hall without obtaining proper permission from the government authorities concerned.
Justice N Anand Venkatesh made the observation while disposing of a petition filed by L Joseph Wilson, a pastor from Kodavasal in Tiruvarur district, praying for quashing a 2024 order of the jurisdictional tahsildar to seal his house, preventing him from holding prayer meetings.
Citing a ruling on the issue, the judge said it is clear from the judgment that conducting prayer meetings in a hall requires obtaining permission from the authority concerned under the relevant rules. Hence, the petitioner cannot, as a matter of right, have a prayer hall to conduct prayer meetings without obtaining permission, he said in a recent order.
Referring to the petitioner’s undertaking that he would not use the public address system, the judge said non-usage of the loudspeaker and microphone will not solve the issue. “The crux of the issue is that the petitioner cannot convert a house into a prayer hall to conduct prayer meetings. That requires proper permission from the authorities,” he said.
The judge directed the tahsildar to remove the seal on the petitioner’s property if it is not utilised for prayer meetings. If the petitioner intends to convert the property into a prayer hall, he should get proper permission from the district collector, the judge stated, adding in case of utilisation of the building for prayer meetings, the respondent authorities can take appropriate action in accordance with the law.
Government advocate T M Rajangam appeared for the respondent authorities.