A public interest writ petition praying for a direction to the authorities concerned to remove the image of temple tower inscribed in the TN government emblem was dismissed by the Madras High Court on Thursday.
There was no merit in the writ petition, which also sought to correct the national flag inscribed in the emblem, the first bench of Acting Chief Justice RK Agrawal and Justice M Sathyanarayanan said today.
The bench was dismissing the PIL from Kannan Govindarajulu of Kilmaruvathur in Kancheepuram district. He contended that the inscription of Srivilliputhur temple tower in the emblem portrayed a particular religion and went against the secular policy. The national flag inscribed was not in accordance with the specification of 3:2 ratio.
The bench said, “It cannot be said that since the emblem is having a temple tower inscribed in it, the State government is giving preference or encouraging the particular religion.’’
As regards the national flag, the bench said that none of the provisions of the Emblems (Prevention of Improper Use) Act and Flag Code of India had been violated. The provisions of the Act were regulatory in nature.