In this article, Anubhav Pandey discusses legal actions to take against person who breaks or attempts to break an Idol in a temple.

Idol, in the eyes of law, is a legal entity. A legal entity can sue as well as be sued. Therefore, there are legal consequences attached when someone breaks or either attempts to break an idol. Hence, let us look at the legal implications when someone damages an idol in a temple.

Legal status of an Idol

This must have come as a surprise to many of us, Lord Sri Ram fought the legal battle of Ayodhya (Ram Janmbhoomi case) through his representative and also emerged victorious. Under the Indian Judicial system, Idols have been given the status of a legal person.

Who is a juristic person? Does a juristic person have the right to sue?

Human beings can easily be made accountable for the wrongs they have done as well as can ensure their legal well-being. However, there are few non-living entities which cannot protect their own legal rights. Their legal rights are vested on others. These non-living entities are called artificial persons.

Idol of a God in a temple is an artificial person and can sue when someone tries to damage it. The caretaker of the Idol (Mahant) of the temple will sue on behalf of the Idol.

Therefore, answering the question, can a person who breaks or attempts to break an Idol at a temple be sued, the answer is Yes.

Which law applies when anyone attempts to break an Idol at the temple

Section 295 of the Indian Penal Code

The section clearly lays down that, when a person destroys, damages or defiles any place of worship or objects of worship held sacred, that is an Idol, will be punished with an imprisonment which may extend to two years along with a fine.

Therefore, maximum two years of imprisonment is the punishment when a person deliberately with the prior intention of insulting any class of religion breaks an Idol.

Will breaking of any Idol of God outside the temple will land you in jail

No. For satisfying the above penal provision the Idol must be inside the temple as well as regularly worshiped by the people or it should be in procession on festival occasions when the breaking takes place.

Therefore, breaking any Idol of God anywhere will not land you in jail. It might happen that during a normal shopping procedure an Idol of God might slip from your hand and gets broken. This will not land you in jail. Yes, when a person attempts to defame certain class of people deliberately making defamatory remarks on their religion will obviously land them in jail.

What will be the consequences when a person defames the Idol, hence the religion

Section 295 A of the IPC governs the situation where anyone deliberately does an act which outrages the religious feeling of a class by insulting its religious beliefs. Also, when a person intentionally by speaking, or by writing, or by using signs insults the religious belief of any class, such person will be punished by law for a term which may extend to three years with fine.

Therefore, when a person attempts to defame a religious class by defaming the Idol, section 295A of the IPC comes into action.

Section 296 talks of disturbing religious assembly. Therefore, when a person attempts to break the Idol or defame the Idol, he causes a disturbance to a lawful assembly gathered at the temple for the purpose of prayer. The punishment for this is imprisonment for one year or fine or both.

Section 298 of the Indian Penal Code might also apply where a person with the deliberate intention of defaming anyone’s religious feelings, utters words which downtrodden the religious sentiment of that person will be punished by law.

Idol theft

Indian temples are rich when it comes to antique idols. Protecting the same is the duty of law enforcement agencies. In any Idol theft case, the normal provision of theft as defined under the IPC will apply. Along with this, relevant provisions of Custom’s Act apply too.

Idol Wing of Tamil Nadu Police

The matter relating to Idol theft is such that Indian states like Tamil Nadu have a separate Idol Wing to look into such matters.

Primary functions of the Idol Wing CID

• To investigate cases of theft of idols and antiques exceeding value of Rs.5 Lakhs.
• To investigate idol theft cases referred to it by the State Government.
• To co-ordinate in the investigation of important idol theft cases handled by the District Police
• Collection of intelligence on nefarious activities of antique dealers and art collectors.

Who can file the case

In cases of Idol breaking or Idol theft, ideally, the person who will be filing the case will be the temple represented by its caretakers, or Trustees, where there exists a trust. If no one is taking action then any person belonging to the religion of whole Idol was sabotaged might also file a case on the basis of Section 296 and Section 298 of the Indian Penal Code.

What will be the legal consequences when a person breaks an Idol of a God kept in a residential home

As explained above, for satisfying the above penal provision the Idol must be inside the temple as well as regularly worshiped by the people or it should be in procession on festival occasions when the breaking takes place.

Important Judicial pronouncement on legal rights of Idols

An incident took place in Mumbai where water began to drip from the feet of the statue of Jesus. A rationalist thinker Sanal Edamaruku analysed the incident and gave an explanation of how the water from a nearby blocked drain was dripping from Jesus feet by the phenomenon of what is called the capillary action. He was held guilty under Article 295A of the IPC.

A person named Rajpal published an anonymous pamphlet called ‘Rangeela Rasool’ (Colourful Prophet). The pamphlet made derogatory and scurrilous remarks about the personal life of Prophet Muhammad and soon led to widespread unrest amongst Indian Muslims after gaining sufficient attention.  Since then judiciary has dealt at length with Section 295A, the much controversial issues surrounding freedom of speech and expression and blasphemy laws can be understood in light of the interpretation of the section by various courts in the country.

References

Sankaranarayanan Iyer vs Sri Poovananathaswami Temple; (1949) 2 MLJ 171

Pramatha Nath Mullick vs Pradyumna Kumar Mullick; (1925) 27 BOMLR 1064