"Hinduism is very much a religion": Justice KM Joseph questions Hinduism is 'way of life' logic of Supreme Court

"Hinduism is very much a religion," said former judge of the Supreme Court, Justice KM Joseph on Thursday while discussing the approach of the Supreme Court to Hinduism in several of its judgments..Justice Joseph was specifically refuting the rationale adopted by the Supreme Court while attempting to define Hinduism in a batch of 8 cases from 1995 which are commonly referred to as the "Hindutva cases". These cases dealt with the question of whether speeches made by certain politicians would fall foul of Section 123(3) of the Representation of People Act, 1951, which prohibits candidates from using their race, caste, community, or language, for the purpose of seeking votes. In one of the cases, Ramesh Yeshwant Prabhoo v. Shri Prabhakar Kashinath Kunte & Ors., a three-judge bench headed by Justice JS Verma said,“The words ‘Hinduism’ or ‘Hindutva’ are not necessarily to be understood and construed narrowly, confined only to the strict Hindu religious practices unrelated to the culture and ethos of the people of India, depicting the way of life of the Indian people. Unless the context of a speech indicates a contrary meaning or use, in the abstract these terms are indicative more of a way of life of the Indian people and are not confined merely to describe persons practising the Hindu religion as a faith".Justice Joseph pointed out that if Hinduism is not considered a religion and the Supreme Court's rationale is adopted, then Hindus would be put to disadvantage as they would not be entitled to claim the rights under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India which are available to other religions.Hence, Hinduism has to be considered a religion for legal and Constitutional purposes, he opined."The Supreme Court has proceeded on the basis of earlier judgments that said it is very difficult to define Hinduism. But Hinduism is very much a religion. I will tell you why. If Hinduism is not a religion, then how will the members of that religion exercise the rights under Articles 25(1) and 26(2)? So Hinduism has to be a religion," he said..The former judge was delivering a lecture on "the concept of secularism in the Constitution" as part of the continuing legal education program of the Kerala High Court Advocates' Association (KHCAA).Apart from his criticism of the "Hinduism is a way of life" logic, Justice Joseph also said that it was not right that the version of Hinduism that the Supreme Court arrived on was based mainly just on its own earlier judgments. .In particular, Justice Jospeh remarked that Vinayak Damodar Savarkar's view of Hinduism and Hindutva were not considered by the Supreme Court."The version of Hinduism which the Court relied upon is all based on judgments of the Supreme Court and other material. Perhaps the political party in question and other political parties which doubt Hindutva, rely upon the words of Veer Savarkar. Savarkar has a version of Hindutva. He also lauded Savarkar as a brilliant mind. "Savarkar was elected the President of Hindu Mahasabha in 1937. He was a barrister, a brilliant mind, a poet. He was imprisoned for life for fighting against the British and the allegation made against him by some political parties is that he petitioned for mercy and he was moved from Andaman to another prison. But the fact remains that he was a barrister and he had a brilliant mind. In fact, his take on casteism is that it has no place in Hinduism. What I am up against is the fact that the version of Hindutva according to Savarkar perhaps may not have been gone into by the Supreme Court in the Hindutva cases," he explained. .Justice Joseph also opined that Hinduism is a unique religion."Hinduism is an extraordinary and unique religion. If you see Christianity and Islam, you will see a common founder, holy book etc. Hinduism on the other hand has thrown its doors open to all beliefs," he said.He said that the Hinduism itself is one reason why he believes secularism will survive in India."I am still optimistic that secularism will survive. The optimism comes from the Hindu religion itself. The vast majority of Hindus are completely broad-minded and tolerant and they do not treat religion in the manner that other religions do. The shores of this country were thrown open to Christianity and Islam and there was no war, no army marching. The people, kings, priests, all accepted them," he concluded..You can read more about Justice Joseph's take on secularism here; on minority votebanks here; and Manipur violence here..Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.