Temples places of peace; unfortunately many times they become cause of law and order problem: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court on Friday took an unfavourable view of the Court being flooded with cases relating to law and order disturbances at temples [M Sekar v The District Collector]..Justice N Anand Venkatesh observed that while temples are a place for believers to search for peace, unfortunately in many cases, temples were becoming a cause of law and order problems and as a result, the whole purpose was lost.“In such cases, the best course of action will be to close down such temples so that peace and normalcy is restored in the locality. It is a paradox that closure of a temple actually leads to peace," the single-judge said..The Court was hearing a plea seeking protection for the petitioner and others to offer worship at the temple of their family deity. The clashes taking place at the temple arose from the parties' worship rights.“A temple must create an environment to subside the ego of a person and on the contrary it is becoming a breeding ground for clash of ego between persons and God is pushed to the back seat,” the Court bemoaned while examining the issue..As per the State counsel, there had been repeated clashes between the parties whenever there was an attempt to conduct a function at the temple and the disputes did not subside despite repeated attempts.Therefore, the temple was shut till the situation returned to normalcy..Therefore, the single-judge opined that handing over the administration of the temple to a fit person would sufficiently take care of the ego clashes and no one would feel superior.“The Assistant Commissioner of HR & CE must immediately step in and appoint a fit person for the Temple,” the judge ordered..The process of appointment was directed to be completed within ten days and the temple would be opened only after the appointment, the Court said.“It shall be ensured that no one indulges in act of violence resulting in a law and order problem and if any such incidents takes place, the Superintendent of Police shall immediately take charge and action shall be initiated against the concerned persons.”.Advocates R Thirumoorthy and S Rajanikanth appeared for the petitioner while the respondents were represented by Additional Government Pleader U Baranidharan, Advocate Guru Prasath and Government Advocate Karthikeyan..[Read Order]