The Madurai bench of the Madras excessive court docket delivered a break up verdict on a batch of pleas filed involving the Thiruparankundram Hill which was within the highlight in the course of the Murugan convention after proper wing teams took offence to meat consuming on the hilltop which has each a Murugan temple and a dargah.
The completely different pleas sought renaming the Thiruparankundram hill as Sikander hill, renaming the Samanar (Jain) hill, allowing animal sacrifice, and development work.
The bench comprising justices J Nisha Banu and S Srimathy have been in settlement that the hill can’t be renamed and a clutch of different points however they differed on animal sacrifice.
Justice Banu permitted animal sacrifices saying it’s a spiritual apply of each Hindu and Muslim communities whereas justice Srimathy banned it saying that there isn’t any proof of this being an historical spiritual apply.
“Article 25 of the Structure of India confers the precise to freedom of faith which incorporates “apply”… within the absence of any legislation prohibiting animal sacrifice, which is part of spiritual apply, there can’t be any order by this court docket restraining such exercise,” justice Banu stated within the verdict delivered on June 24.
“Furthermore, the Dargah is situated on the southern aspect peak of the Thirupparankundram Hill, whereas the Subramaniya Swamy Temple and Kasi Viswanathar Temple are located at completely different areas. Thus, no spiritual practices of 1 neighborhood impinge upon the sacred areas of one other,” justice Banu stated.
“On condition that ritual animal sacrifices are historically carried out in a number of Hindu temples throughout the Madurai area, a blanket prohibition would quantity to discriminatory enforcement. Animal Sacrifice, being a longtime spiritual apply, is noticed not solely within the Dargah but additionally in a number of hindu Temples throughout the nation, and due to this fact the identical can’t be selectively banned,” she stated.
Nonetheless, justice Srimathy stated that there was no proof to show that the apply of animal sacrifice was established for a very long time.
“Curiously it’s seen that there isn’t any meat stall in Sannadhi Avenue, round 300 meters from the temple there isn’t any meat stall, there isn’t any broiler hen stall for greater than 300 meters,” justice Srimathy stated. “In actual fact many of the marriage halls in Tiruparankundram don’t permit non vegetarian cooking in any respect. All these info state how the devotees defend the holiness of the Tiruparankundram Hill and the Subramaniya Swamy Temple,” she stated.
“The Tirupanrankundram Hill shall not be known as both as Sikkandar Malai or as Samanar Kundru,” the bench of the 2 justices stated within the order.
“The Dargah is directed to strategy the Civil Courtroom to ascertain their apply of animal sacrifice in addition to prayer throughout Ramzan, Bakr-eid and different Muslim festivals prevailing previous to the order in 1920,” the decision stated.
The bench directed the state to allow the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to survey the hill and demarcate the protected monuments, dargah and the temple and submit a report back to the court docket inside a 12 months.
The 107-page verdict was reserved on April 30 and delivered on June 24 and the matter has been referred to the chief justice of the Madras HC for a tie breaker verdict.
