‘God cannot be summoned by the court’: Madras HC overturns lower court’s order – India Today

On Thursday, the Madras High Court overturned a lower court’s order that directed the authorities of a temple in Tiruppur district in Tamil Nadu to produce the temple’s main idol before the court for verification.

The lower court in Kumbakonam was hearing a case in which the Moolavar (presiding deity) idol had been stolen, traced and reinstalled at the shrine in Paramasivan Swamy temple in Siviripalayam.

‘GOD CANNOT BE SUMMONED’

In his order on Thursday, Madras High Court’s Justice R Suresh Kumar said the idol should not be removed and produced before the court because it is God in the eyes of the devotees. God cannot be summoned by the court for inspection or verification as if it is a material object of a criminal case, the high court said.

Instead, an advocate commissioner can be deputed to inspect the idol without moving it or hurting the feelings of the devotees, the order added. The advocate commissioner can prepare a detailed report and submit the same to the court concerned, it said.

WRIT PETITION IN HC

The high court was hearing a writ petition that challenged the lower court’s order to lift the idol from its pedestal and produce it before the court.

As per the petitioner, the idol at the ancient temple had been stolen, subsequently retrieved by the police and produced before the court concerned. It was then handed over to temple authorities and re-installed at the shrine, where it is worshipped by several people following a ritual.

When the lower court ordered temple authorities to produce the idol before it on January 6 and an attempt was made to remove the idol for the same, the devotees including the petitioner strongly objected and filed a petition in the high court.

On Thursday, the high court said after hearing the petition, “The idol need not be removed for the said purpose. This order shall be executed by all concerned including the Magistrate [in Kumbakonam].”

(With inputs from PTI)

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