The Madras High Court on Friday granted two more months to the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB) and the Greater Chennai Police to demolish a temple on the pathway between two blocks at the tenements at Nochikuppam in Chennai.
Justices S. Vaidyanathan and T.V. Thamilselvi wrote that God never asked anyone to construct places of worship by encroaching upon public spaces. Every such encroachment, irrespective of the religion, must be removed, they said while passing interim orders on a contempt of court petition moved by a resident of Nochikuppam tenements.
When Additional Advocate General J. Ravindran cited practical difficulties in demolishing the temple due to the religious sentiments attached to it, the senior judge in the Bench said people could be asked to construct a temple on a private property after obtaining requisite clearances and shift the idols to the new temple after conducting “Balalayam”.
