The petition acknowledged that Muslims usually offered prayers at the Pallivasal (Mosque) and that the Sikandar Badhusha Dargah was also situated at the Thirupparakundram mountain. But, it said, there were other vacant lands available for offering prayers nearby.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — The Madras High Court has refused to ban namaz (Muslim prayer) in a pathway towards the Kasi Viswanthar Temple at Thirupparankun in Madurai District.
A bench of Justice R. Subramanian and Justice L. Victoria Gowri recently refused an interim stay on the offering of prayers at Nellithopu and asked the Hindu Religious & Charitable endowment to file their counters to the petition in four weeks.
The court also remarked that there was no harm in offering namaz for 30 minutes and that it would not affect any person, LiveLaw website reported.
The petition was filed by the state organisation secretary of Aghila Bharatha Hanuman Sena, Ramalingam. It submitted that devotees wanting to pray at the Kasi Viswanathar Temple, situated atop Thirupparakundram take rest and have their food on the Nellithoppu pathway.
Ramalingam’s petition submitted that the Jamath members of Sikandar Badhusha Dargah have started offering namaz at the said place.
The petition acknowledged that the Jamath members usually offered their prayers at the Pallivasal (Mosque) and that the Sikandar Badhusha Dargah was also situated at the Thirupparakundram mountain. But, it said, there were other vacant lands available for offering prayers nearby.
Ramalingam submitted that by offering namaz at the Nellithopu, the Jamath members were causing a nuisance and hindrance to the public and that after offering namaz, the members polluted the pathway with food waste and plastic waste, etc.
It was also submitted that the Jamath members were claiming that the Thirupparakundram Arulmighu Subramania Swamy Thirukoil Mountain was known as “Sikandar Mountain” and thus they were trying to encroach into the land and cause a law and order problem, the website reported.
The court was however not inclined to grant the interim injunction and adjourned the plea.
