The Supreme Court Friday sought the responses of the central and the Uttar Pradesh governments on a plea for easing restrictions on worship at Lord Rama’s makeshift temple at Ayodhya, built on the disputed site after the Babri mosque was demolished in 1992.
Hearing a lawsuit by Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy, a bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Justice A.K. Ganguly and Justice B.S. Chauhan issued notices also to Faizabad district commissioner and others.
In his lawsuit, Swamy alleged that local authorities in Ayodhya have imposed unreasonable and harsh restrictions on the ‘darshan’ and worship of Lord Rama idol.
‘According to this applicant (Swamy), these (regulations) are highly derogatory, humiliating and unreasonable and particularly harsh on aged, infirm or even female devotees,’ said Swamy in his plea, seeking removal of the 16-year-old curbs.
Maintaining that he was seeking relief on behalf of countless devotees of Lord Rama, Swamy sought urgent hearing of his plea and said that the issue involved the question of public health and morality.
The bench gave the two governments and various Ayodhya authorities four weeks to file their replies to Swamy’s pleas and slated the next hearing for Aug 31.
