MADURAI: Holding that mere apprehension of a law-and-order problem cannot be a ground to stop the construction of a church near a Hindu temple, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently dismissed a petition filed by a Hindu Munnani functionary against the reconstruction of a church building near Muthumariamman temple in Sivaganga.
The petitioner, G Marimuthu, challenged the collector’s order dated May 13, 2021 permitting the construction, as it was situated within 45 metres of the temple. The collector ought to have heard the residents before passing the order, he added.
However, the counsel representing the church contended that the prayer hall has been in existence in the said location for the past 25 years and the local people have been living in harmony. Since the old structure became weak, reconstruction works were undertaken, he added.
The government counsel informed that the collector took the decision based on a field inspection report submitted by the RDO after inquiring with the residents, who confirmed the pre-existence of the church and said they had no objections to the same. He also pointed out that the petitioner was not a resident of the locality.
A bench of Justices M Dhandapani and N Dilip Kumar observed that the constitutional guarantee of peaceful coexistence of persons professing different faiths cannot be curtailed merely based on an unsubstantiated apprehension and refused to interfere with the collector’s order.