Aastha Thakur
Published on: 19 December 2022 at 15:58 IST
Delhi High Court recently dismissed the Public Interest Litigation seeking direction to prohibit putting deities’ images on wall to resolve problems like open urination, spitting or littering in public places.
The HC bench comprised of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad rejected the petition.
The plea submitted before the court that it has created a serious menace in society as these pictures not guarantee the prevention of such acts. The people still publicly urinate or spit on the “sacred images”.
The counsel and petitioner Advocate Gorang Gupta added that it only degrades the sanctity of the deities’ people worship. The element of fear used here to prohibit people from urinating, spitting, or littering is not right.
Moreover, the plea reiterated that affixing of sacred images of deities on walls attracts the statutory offences given under Sections 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code as it hurt the religious sentiments of the general public.