@JUDGMENTTAG-ORDER
Honourable Mr. Justice K. Chandru
1. The petitioner has come forward to file the present writ petition seeking for a direction to the respondents 1 to 4 to provide permission and adequate protection to the petitioner and his community members to worship and celebrate Pongal Festival at Arulmigu Muthalamman Thirukoil, T.Karisalkulam, Sivakasi Taluk, Virudhunagar District, on 15.08.2012 and 16.08.2012. The writ petition came up for admission on 10.08.2012 and on that day, this Court directed the learned Additional Government Pleader to take notice for the respondents 1 to 4 and in respect of the private respondents 5 & 6, private notice was also permitted.
2. Accordingly, for the 6th respondent the learned counsel has entered appearance and also filed a counter affidavit, dated 27.08.2012. The Inspector of Police, Vembakkottai Taluk, has also given a written report in respect of this writ petition.
3. The case of the petitioner was that he is Nattamai of Kammavar Naidu Community and in T. Karislakulam Village, there are several temples including Vinayagar temple, Iyyanar temple, Muthalamman temple and Karrupasamy temple. Every year festivals are celebrated in all the temples in common by the villagers. In respect of Muthalamman temple, there is a custom of celebrating Pongal Festival once in 5 years in the month of Aadi. There is no temple as such for Muthalamman, but except a stage in the starting point and 13 holy stones and a stage at the ending point of Village. The customary practice of the villagers is during the festival time, before three days of scheduled festival, the idol of Muthalamman will be made out of clay by following customary rituals and the same will be installed on the stage on the starting point on the first day previous night and before the dawn, the eye opening pooja of the clay statue will be done and after finishing other rituals, the said deity will be taken as procession inside the village to the 13 holly stones and worshiped by the villagers. On the same day before dusk the clay statue deity will be taken to the ending point stage at the village border and demolished. Thereafter, the 3rd day the other rituals and Pongal Festival will conclude the entire festival. Almost three days function will be celebrated once in 5 years for the past several years by the villagers and all the village people are having belief and faith in the said celebration. Further, there is a custom to host a flag before the 13 pillars one week before the beginning of the festival. For the present year, the Muthalamman temple festival is going to be celebrated on 15.08.2012 and 16.08.2012. In the village, majority people belong to Naicker community. During the year 2007, when the festival was celebrated, an incident took place in which women and children were affected. In view of the same, in the subsequent years, the community people of the 5th & 6th respondents celebrated temple festival separately in respect of Muthalamman temple. Similarly, the petitioners community people also celebrated in respect of the said temple on different days without disturbing each other. The temple festival is celebrated by collecting funds among the community people and each community people have their own schedule for celebrating the festival including Muthalamman temple festival and there is no interference by any other community. The petitioner and his community people want to celebrate the festival of Muthalamman temple on their own in a peaceful manner. They have no objection for similar celebration by other community people. There is no custom of giving any first right (Mudal Mariyathai) to anybody in the Muthalamman festival. The said temple has no source of income. It is only by the faith and belief of the people in the deity the rituals are performed. Though a representation to the4th respondent was given on 03.08.2012 and another representation was also sent through RPAD on 04.08.2012 to the respondents 1 to 3, and the official respondents receive the said complaint, no action was taken. In their representation, sent to the authorities including Revenue Authority, signed by the people belonging to the petitioner''s community, they had complained that during the year 2007, 30 persons having taken liquor sat on the temple chappals car along with cheppals and demanded that while lifting the temple car, they also to be lifted, which led to a fight between two groups. The Police authorities, on information, came to the said place and thereafter, the matter came to an end. Even for the celebration to be held in the year 2012, a meeting was held between the two groups of people and the group represented by the respondents 5 & 6 are not willing to take responsibility. Therefore, the petitioner and his community people want to celebrate the festival on their own on 15.08.2012 and 16.08.2012 and sought for police protection.
4. However, when it was pointed out that the dates on which the celebration was scheduled to be taken place already expired, the learned counsel for the petitioner filed a memo, dated 24.08.2012, stating that they are willing to conduct the festival on 05.09.2012 and 06.09.2012 on being given full police protection and that the preliminary arrangements like erecting "Panthalkall" and commencing the fasting and ''tying Kappu'' etc., have to be done a week prior to the festival. Therefore, the dates were changed to 05.09.2012 and 06.09.2012.
5. The Inspector of Police, Vembakkottai, had in his report stated that in the said village there are about 300 Naicker families and 130 families belong to Thevar community and there are other minority community people also in the said village. For every five years, they use to celebrate Muthalamman temple festival. But, during the festival in the year 2007, a fight broke out because some people belonged to Thevar community after taking liquor created nuisance by sitting on the temple car without removing their chappals and wanted the people to take the car along with them and because of the said incident, from the year 2008 onwards, each community people are celebrating the festival on their own. The temple base is situated within the area in which Thevar community people are living largely and if Naicker community people celebrate the festival separately, there is a possibility for Law & Order problem being created.
6. In the counter affidavit filed by the 6th respondent, he claimed that the custom of celebrating the festival is taking place over 100 years and that the right cannot be infringed. The right to conduct the festival of Muthalamman Temple is a joint right vested with all the community people. The community to which the 6th respondent represents did not create an nuisance The present writ petition has been filed in the individual capacity. The measurement of the base of the chapparam is about 10'' x 8'' and it cannot occupy many persons. No complaint was given to the police during the year 2007 with regard to the said incident. The custom of celebrating the festival is only in the Tamil month of Aadi and therefore, the said festival cannot be conducted in any other month except the Tamil month of Aadi. The petitioner''s attempt to conduct the festival separately will lead to communal tension and infringe the rights of the other worshipers. Eye opening of the pooja has to be done only in the presence of all community people. If the petitioner and his community people are allowed to conduct the festival separately, this Court may be pleased to direct the petitioner and his community people to conduct both eye opening and the other rituals at Melur to avoid possible communal tension in the village. The properties viz., Jewels and Chapparam etc. of Muthallamman Temple are common to all the villagers. Therefore, the properties of the Muthallamman temple should be handed over to the rest of the villagers at the time of celebrating the temple festival by the petitioner.
7. From the stand point of the 6th respondent, it is very clear that they are not willing to abide by any reasonable conditions. If the stand of the 6th respondent is that the custom of conducting the festival is that the festival has to be done only during the Tamil month of Aadi, it is upto the 6th respondent to observe such customs during the said month along with his community people. But, on that score, others cannot be prevented from conducting such festival without hindrance to others. The Inspector of Police in his report has also stated that the joint function was stopped from the year 2007 due to an ugly incident that took place in the year 2007 and thereafter, each group is celebrating the festival on their own. It must be noted that right to have the rituals is a fundamental right given under Article 25 of the Constitution. Therefore, if the petitioner wants to have a temple festival, either as a group or on their own, cannot be stopped by any other person and the Revenue and Police Authorities cannot be spectators when disturbances are done by any person or group, when one section of the people conducts the festival without any hindrance to others.
8. Under such circumstances, since the petitioner wants to celebrate the festival on 05.09.2012 and 06.09.2012, the respondents 1 to 4 are hereby directed to provide necessary protection for the petitioner to conduct the festival and the 2nd respondent was also entitled to conduct a meeting so as to advise the group not to interfere with the rights exercised by the petitioner and his community people. If the 6th respondent, representing his community people, wants to have any function, he should seek proper permission and he cannot put pre-condition for the request made by the petitioner. As and when any request is made by the 6th respondent for conducting temple festival with clear dates, that will be considered on its own merits. On the ground of precondition, the 6th respondent or any other similarly placed person, cannot stop the petitioner from conducting the festival.. With the above directions, this writ petition is allowed. Consequently, connected Miscellaneous Petition is closed. No costs.
