Kerala HC orders to close down illegal religious places, prayer halls
Kochi, Aug 26: The Kerala High Court on Friday directed the State government to issue necessary orders to close down if any religious place or prayer hall is functioning without necessary permission, observing that the people of the southern State were "exhausted with religious places and prayer halls."
The court directed the government to issue a separate circular/order prohibiting change of category of a building to a religious place/prayer hall except in inevitable circumstances and in the rarest of rare case, and that also only after getting a report from the police and the Intelligence ascertaining the ground realities of that particular place.
"The Chief Secretary of State of Kerala and the State Police Chief shall issue necessary orders/circulars directing all the officer concerned to see that there is no illegal functioning of any religious places and prayer halls without obtaining permission from the competent authorities as per the Manual of Guidelines and if any such religious place or prayer hall is functioning without necessary permission, to take necessary steps to close down the same forthwith", Justice P V Kunhikrishnan said in the order.
The court issued the order while disposing of a plea filed by a Society called Noorul Islam Samskarika Sangam seeking to convert a commercial building at Amarambalam Grama Panchayat to a Muslim place of worship at a village near Nilambur in Malappuram district.
It directed the State chief secretary to issue necessary orders/circulars directing the competent authority as per the Manual of Guidelines to consider each application to start religious places and prayer halls strictly and the approval can be granted only in appropriate cases.
In the order/circular, it should be clearly mentioned that the distance to the nearest similar religious place /prayer hall is one of the criteria while considering the application for religious places and prayer halls, it said.
"Because of the peculiar geographical location of Kerala, it is known as 'God's own country'. But we are exhausted with religious places and prayer halls and we are not in a position to allow any new religious places and prayer halls except in the rarest of rare cases," the High Court said.
The court observed that the Society sought to change the commercial building into a Muslim place of worship at a place where there are about 36 mosques within 5-km radius of this building and "then why another prayer hall for the petitioner is a million dollar question." The petitioner moved the court after the district authorities rejected its demand.
"Even then the petitioner wants another place of worship for the reason that 'five times prayer' is necessary for a Muslim and therefore, a prayer hall is necessary within the vicinity of every Muslim. If this is allowed then in every nook and corner of the State, place of worship and prayer halls would be necessary", the court said while doing a detailed consideration of the matter.
In its order, the court, referring to 2011 census report, said there are a sufficient number of religious places and prayer halls to all the communities in the State.
The court said the government and the local bodies should be vigilant while granting permission for religious places and prayer halls in future.
"It should be done strictly in accordance with the Manual of Guidelines. Moreover, the change of occupancy of existing buildings from one category to the category of religious places shall not be allowed in normal cases. Rejection of approval should be the rule and the approval should be only in the rarest of rare case," it said.
The court said if there is any inevitable situation, the competent authorities as per the Manual of Guidelines, before taking decisions should go deep into such requests after getting an intelligence report and police report about the ground realities.
As far as the change of occupancy to religious purpose is concerned, normally it should not be approved because the purpose of the construction is for the category in which the permit is issued, it said.
Observing that the construction of a commercial building and construction of a religious place is entirely different, the court said in a State like Kerala, the category change from one category to religious place is not necessary unless there are sufficient reasons for the same.
"If any building is used for religious purposes when the building is constructed for some other purpose, stringent action should be taken by the police authorities and the State," the court said.
If every Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Jews, and Parsis among others starts to construct religious places and prayer halls near his or her residence, the State would face consequences such as communal disharmony, the court said.
"In this case the intelligence report and the police report say that if the present conversion of the commercial building to a religious prayer hall is allowed, there is a chance for communal disharmony. It is a sensitive issue," the court said.
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UDF leaders see local body poll trends as pointer to 2026 Assembly elections in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Buoyed by the strong performance of the Congress-led UDF in the local body polls, KPCC president Sunny Joseph said on Saturday that the front's results indicated the people had rejected the LDF government.
According to early trends, the UDF was leading in more grama panchayats, block panchayats, municipalities and corporations than the LDF.
The local body polls were held in two phases in the state earlier this week.
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Speaking to reporters here, Joseph said the people of Kerala had extended their support to the UDF.
"We could expose the LDF government’s anti-people stance and the people understood it. The LDF’s fake propaganda was rejected by the people. The UDF is moving towards a historic victory," he said.
He said a united effort, proper preparations, good candidate selection and hard work had resulted in the Congress and the UDF’s victory in the elections.
Asked about the prospects in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, Joseph said the party was studying the matter and would comment later.
LDF convenor T P Ramakrishnan said the results would be closely examined.
According to him, the government had done everything possible for the people.
"Why such a verdict happened will be examined at the micro level. People’s opinion will be considered and further steps will be taken," he said.
He added that decisions would be taken after analysing the results. "If any corrective measures are required, we will initiate them and move forward," he said.
AICC leader K C Venugopal said the results showed that people had begun ousting those who, he alleged, were responsible for the loss of gold at Lord Ayyappa’s temple.
"This trend will continue in the Assembly elections as well. It is an indication that the people are ready to bring down the LDF government," he said.
Venugopal said the UDF had registered victories even in CPI(M) and LDF strongholds.
"I congratulate all UDF workers for their hard work. Congress workers and leaders worked unitedly," he said.
Referring to remarks made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan against the Congress on polling day, Venugopal said the voters had responded through the verdict.
"I do not know whether the chief minister understands that the people are against him. Otherwise, he does not know the sentiment of the people. The state government cannot move an inch further," he said.
He said the results indicated a strong comeback for the UDF in Kerala.
Asked whether the Sabarimala gold loss issue had affected the LDF in the local polls, Venugopal said the CM and the CPI(M) state secretary did not take the issue seriously.
"We took a strong stand on the matter. The BJP played a foul game in it," he alleged.
On the BJP's role in the local body elections, Venugopal alleged that the party operated with the CPI(M) 's tacit support.
"The CPI(M) supported the central government on issues such as PM-SHRI, labour codes and corruption in national highway construction. The CPI(M) is facing ideological decline, and the state government’s policies are against the party’s own decisions," he said.
Meanwhile, LDF ally Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K Mani said the party could not win all the wards it had expected in the elections.
He congratulated winners from all parties and said the party would closely examine the losses and identify shortcomings. "Later, we will take corrective measures," he added.
Senior Congress leader and MP Rajmohan Unnithan said the trends in the local body elections indicated that the UDF would return to power in the 2026 Assembly elections.
"We will win 111 seats as in 1977 and return to power in 2026. The anti-government sentiment of the people is reflected in the elections," he said.
Unnithan said the people were disturbed and unhappy with the present government.
"The trend indicates the end of the LDF government," he added.
CPI(M) MLA M M Mani said the people had shown ingratitude towards the LDF despite benefiting from welfare schemes.
"After receiving all welfare schemes and living comfortably, people voted against us due to some temporary sentiments. Is that not ingratitude," he asked.
Mani said no such welfare initiatives had taken place in Kerala earlier.
"People are receiving pensions and have enough to eat. Even after getting all this, they voted against us. This is what can be called ingratitude," he said.
Muslim League state president Panakkad Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal said the results were beyond expectations.
"The outcome points towards the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, indicating that a change of government is imminent. We are going to win the Assembly election," he said.
