Kochi: The Kerala High Court ordered the closure of illegally constructed religious buildings in the state on Friday. The number of places of worship in the coastal state is nearly 3.5 times greater than the number of hospitals, according to the HC.
Justice P V Kunhikrishnan dismissed a petition filed by the Noorul Islam Samskarika Sangam to convert a commercial building at Amarambalam Grama Panchayat in Malappuram district into a Muslim place of worship. The court noted that the Society sought to convert the commercial building into a Muslim place of worship in an area where there are approximately 36 mosques within a 5-kilometer radius of the building, and that ‘why another prayer hall for the petitioner is a million-dollar question’. After the district collector rejected its demand, the petitioner filed a court petition.
‘The importance of mosques to the Muslim community is highlighted in these Holy Quran verses. However, those verses do not state that a mosque is required in every nook and corner’, the Court stated, quoting the verses mentioned by the council (Juz 1 Surah 114)
Justice P V Kunhikrishnan ruled that Kerala is densely packed with religious sites. ‘Kerala is known as God’s own country because of its unique geographical location. But we are at capacity for religious places and prayer halls, and we cannot allow any new religious places and prayer halls except in the most exceptional of circumstances,’ the judge said in his order.
‘The Chief Secretary of State of Kerala and the State Police Chief shall issue necessary orders/circulars directing all officers concerned to ensure that no religious places and prayer halls are illegally operating without obtaining permission from the competent authorities as per the Manual of Guidelines, and if any such religious place or prayer hall is operating without necessary permission, take necessary steps to close down the same forthwith,’ the order states.
In addition, the court directed the government to issue a separate circular/order prohibiting the conversion of a building to a religious place/prayer hall except in unavoidable circumstances and in the rarest of rare cases, and only after receiving a report from the police and intelligence ascertaining the ground realities of that specific place.
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