Ensure celebrations are held in line with Constitutional

Allahabad High Court has directed authorities to ensure that Durga Puja celebrations are held in line with Constitutional provisions which protect people's right to observe their faith without encroaching on individual rights and the need to maintain order in public life.
The court disposed of 11 writ petitions, filed by different Durga Puja Committees from various districts of Uttar Pradesh, seeking directions for proper 'Navaratra' celebrations.
A division bench of Justice Amreshwar Pratap Sahi and Justice Attau Rahman Masoodi gave the directions yesterday but did not go into the specifics.
"The administration therefore has to blend its decision and not be indifferent to the concern of the public at large. The religious faiths which are preserved and secured as guaranteed under the Constitution have to be continued and preserved so long as the Constitution exists," the bench said.

"The administration therefore can not absolve itself of any such responsibility but at the same time, as indicated in the judgement in the case of Shri Durga Puja Samiti, it is equally the duty of the petitioners as well as other citizens involved in such celebrations to remind themselves of their own fundamental duties as enshrined under chapter lV- A of the Constitution," it further ruled.
The court also reemphasised that the administration has not only to take care of these processions and installation of idols at particular places but also had to equally keep in mind the general welfare of the public at large.

The peace and tranquillity of any human locality has also to be taken into account, in as much as, such functions and celebrations should not in any way trench upon either the individual rights of the citizens which are otherwise secured under the Constitution, it added.
"We gave unto ourselves the Constitution consciously with a declaration of respect for all religions. This was because of the diversity of faiths professed by different communities who wanted to secure their constitutional identity on the basis of their religious and cultural faiths. The same was acknowledged and incorporated in the Constitution by our Constitution makers that preach tolerance for all religions," the court observed.