The Kerala High Court on Wednesday (Nov 28) came down heavily on double-standards of the CPI(M)-led Left Front government over its implementation of two Supreme Court orders – one pertaining to Sabarimala and the other with regard to Piravam Orthodox Church. While it showed undue enthusiasm and used brutal police force to implement the Supreme Court order with regard to young women’s entry into Sabarimala temple, the government showed no keenness in implementing the latter.
The court asked why the government which has deployed thousands of policemen in Sabarimala, failed to adopt a similar strategy in Piravam. The court also asked why the government did not initiate talks in the case of Sabarimala while it was going extra mile to bring about a compromise between the warring parties in Piravam. Ripping apart the government’s appeasement policy, the court said the government used all force at its command in Sabarimala, it could not prevent a few protesters in Piravam.
A division bench, comprising justices P R Ramachandran Menon and Devan Ramachandran, was considering a petition by the Orthodox faction of the Malankara Syrian Church seeking police protection for offering prayers at Piravom Church. Earlier, even though the apex court had allowed the Orthodox faction to offer prayers at the church, members belonging to the rival Jacobite faction allegedly prevented them from entering it.
The bench asked the government why it was implementing the Supreme Court order selectively. The Advocate General said about 200 people belonging to the Jacobite faction were camping in the church and preventing the implementation of the apex court verdict.
The high court also asked the government why not even one case was registered in Piravam while it had registered over 500 cases in Sabarimala. The government says it was not providing security because the police can’t enter the Church. Is this your approach in the case of other religions? “You had no difficulty in deploying thousands of police personnel at Sabarimala wherein lakhs of devotees had gathered to pray,” the bench said. It also directed the AG to file an affidavit in two-week time and reasons for non-implementation of the apex court’s direction.
Discussion about this post