No places of worship in public land: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of India has sternly directed the Centre to disallow religious shrines in public places.

According to a directive issued by a Bench comprising Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Mukundakam Sharma, the Centre must prevent temple, church, mosque or gurudwara being constructed on any public place.

The court warned that without prior permission if a religious structure is constructed, the local official responsible would also be punished.

The court was hearing to an appeal filed by the Centre against a May 2006 Gujarat High Court order that directed the municipal corporations in the state to demolish all illegal structures, including places of worship, on public roads.

The Centre argued that such a move would cause law and order problem and pleaded the court to review its stance.

Acknowledging that removing the existing shrines would cause chaos, the court ordered that existing shrines on public land may not be relocated.

"As far as the existing religious institutions are concerned, we can understand that demolishing them will create law and order problem, but the Centre must ensure that no religious place comes up in future in public places," it said.

The Centre has been ordered to "file an affidavit within four weeks to ensure that no temple, church, mosque or gurudwara is built on a public place."

The bench has also warned dire consequences on local officials. "Even if a single institution is put up on public place, the officers concerned would be suitably punished," it said.

Responding to the court, Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam has promised to take up the matter to all the state governments and come to a consensus on the issue.

The next hearing has been fixed on Sep 29.