At the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam temple on Venkatanarayana Road in T Nagar, Chennai (Express file photo)The right to practice religion can take a backseat when right to life is under threat, the Madras High Court said on Friday. “The right to practice religion is certainly subservient to the right to life and when the right to life is threatened, the right to practice religion can only take a backseat,” the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy said. The court cannot interfere in such matters unless it finds that the state’s action is utterly arbitrary or completely without basis, the bench added. The state government, however, had ordered reopening of temples from June 28, subject to certain Covid-19 safety restrictions. The second wave of the pandemic is not yet over and there is also a risk of a third wave, the judges pointed out.

Source: Indian Express July 02, 2021 14:15 UTC