Madras HC Dismisses Plea Seeking Buddha Purnima As Govt Holiday

The Madras High Court on Friday dismissed a writ petition seeking directions to the Central and State governments to declare Buddha Purnima as a government holiday.

A bench of acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy stated in a lighter vein that even Lord Buddha might not agree to such a proposition.

“Lord Buddha himself would not have agreed with this viewpoint. Dismissed,” the Court stated while dismissing the plea.

The petition was filed by MC Pandiaraj, a resident of Tamil Nadu’s Virudhunagar district, seeking that both the Central and State governments be ordered to declare Buddha Purnima, the birth anniversary of Gautam Buddha according to the Hindu calendar, a public holiday.

According to the petitioner, Buddha Purnima is widely observed in India, Sri Lanka, and several South East Asian countries on the full moon night in April/May.

As a result, he stated that he wrote to the Centre’s department of social justice and empowerment on February 7 of this year. However, he had yet to receive a reply from the government, prompting him to move a petition before the High Court.

However, the bench questioned how the Court could pass such a directive asking the Union and State governments to proclaim a public holiday.

“Even Lord Buddha would not have agreed with such a viewpoint. He would not have requested that people remain away from offices and schools on his birthday,” the bench stated while dismissing the petition.