SC Dismisses Plea Seeking Rules To Curb Violence During Religious Processions

The Supreme Court recently dismissed a petition seeking all-India guidelines to curb clashes and violence during religious processions.

The petitioner opted to withdraw the suit after a Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Aravind Kumar expressed disinclination to hear the case.

“Let us not make this into such a big deal. We cannot get into legislation. You can withdraw,” the bench told the petitioner.

The petitioner, Advocate Vishal Tiwari, who appeared as a party-in-person, brought to light the unfortunate trend of violence occurring during religious processions year after year.

The PIL was filed by referring to the recent Ram Navami violence, which saw violence occur during religious processions.

Despite the fact that such incidents occur every year, Respondent authorities have never taken any action, and law enforcement isn’t “strict” enough, the plea stated.

“The current situation prevailing in various parts of the country as a result of political and communal tensions orchestrated by unregulated powers of society, with no action taken by the government to prevent such incidents. Ram Navami celebrations in India, as last year, saw similar repercussions and violence all over the country this year, the event was marked by violence across multiple states,” the plea stated.

A bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud rejected to hear a similar plea filed by the NGO ‘Citizens for Justice and Peace’ in December 2022, seeking guidelines to control religious processions. The petition was filed by the CJP in response to incidents of violence during the Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti processions held during April, 2022.