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Synopsis

The Madras High Court recently directed for removal of a stone that had been placed at the entrance of a private property and attempts were being made to treat it like an idol to be worshiped. 

The bench of Justice N. Anand Venkatesh, while ordering the removal of that stone, lamented the "superstitious beliefs" prevailing in the country.

"It is quite unfortunate that such superstitious beliefs continue to prevail in the society and people do not seem to evolve by passage of time", he said. 

The court was dealing with a writ petition filed by one E.Shakthi Murugan who stated that a stone had been placed in front of his property, and when he attempted to remove the same, it was resisted. He submitted that the stone had been wrapped in a green cloth and people had started treating it as an idol. He also placed on record the photographs of the stone. 

He further alleged that though he had complained of this to the police, he was not given protection that could enable him to remove the stone. He said that in such a situation, he couldn't approach the civil court.

Taking note of the submission and documents on record, court said that a “very funny situation” would arise if the landlord was forced to city civil court proceedings to determine if the object was just a stone or an idol.

"No useful purpose will be served by initiating proceedings before the civil Court and in fact, it will be a waste of judicial time to ponder over such a frivolous issue," said the bench.

Therefore, court directed the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Pallavaram Range in Chengalpattu district to remove the stone planted at the entrance of the petitioner's property. Court allowed one week for the directions to be complied with. 

Case Title: E.Shakthi Murugan v. The District Collector, Chengalpattu District and Others