Prayagraj: The Allahabad high court has reiterated that there can be no embargo regarding prayers or religious function being conducted within the private premises of a person irrespective of their faith. The court relied on the Maranatha Full Gospel Ministries ruling while deciding a petition filed by Sambhal resident Munazir Khan. A division bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Siddharth Nandan delivered the order on March 16 while disposing Khan’s plea. He had alleged that the administration had capped the number of people allowed to offer prayers at 20 during Ramzan, even though a larger gathering was expected at his premises, which he described as a mosque. The court, after going through the photographs of the structure, opined that it was not a mosque, as on date. However, it said the place has been used for the purpose of offering namaz earlier, and there shall be no obstruction offered to the devotees for prayers to be offered there. Besides, the HC said the elucidation of Article 25 of the Constitution by this court is not to be construed as giving any special status to the adherents of Islam in India. “Article 25 grants every religion an equal and immutable right to profess, practise and propagate its faith without any ‘ifs and buts’, subject only to public order, morality and health,” the court said. It added that actions or speech that disturb public order or pit one religious community against another would fall outside constitutional protection and attract criminal liability. At one stage on Feb 27, the high court had asked the collector and police superintendent of Sambhal to resign or seek transfer if they were incompetent to enforce the rule of law, after the authorities cited “law and order” concerns to limit the number of worshipers at the mosque. “The glory of this republic of 1.4 billion of the earth’s humanity lies in her resilience and strength, arising from her historical, religious, cultural and linguistic diversity formalised by Article 25 of the Constitution,” the court said. It also directed the state to ensure that a copy of this order reaches UP DGP and additional chief secretary (home), for the purpose of circulation. The same bench in its earlier order on Jan 27 in another case had said that no permission was required from the state to conduct a religious prayer meeting within one’s own private premises, as such activity is protected under Article 25 of the Constitution of India.
