This article is written by Bhanu Dhingra, a student of Amity Law School, Noida.

The easy confidence with which I know another man’s religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also. I would not interfere with any one’s religion, either to strengthen it or to weaken it. I am not able to believe one’s religion can affect his hereafter one way or the other, no matter what that religion may be. But it may easily be a great comfort to him in this life–hence it is a valuable possession to him.  – Mark Twain

INTRODUCTION

Constitution of India guarantees freedom of religion under Article 19 and Article 25, respectively.

India being a diverse nation in terms of religion is home to four major religions i.e. Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. There have been many incidents of religious intolerance which resulted in riots and violence, such as the anti-Sikh and Muslims riots in India in the year 1984 and 2002 respectively. Religious procession plays a very important role in religious ceremonies which are performed by the people of a particular religion. Religious processions are being practiced by people since a long time, just like the customs are being performed since ancient times.

RIGHT TO PRACTISE AND PROPAGATE LAWFULLY

 Every Indian citizen has the right to promote and practice his/her religion freely and peacefully which involves people to move in a ceremonious, orderly and a formal manner which can be seen during  funerals, yatras, road rallies, protests etc. Carrying out a religious procession is not easy; in order to make it happen the permission from Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) is very important and also necessary. The police have a duty to facilitate citizens in exercising their fundamental rights to hold peaceful public meetings. The DCP makes sure that such religious procession is not going to result in any sort of violence act and is going to be carried out peacefully and in harmony. He cannot stop anyone from taking part in a peaceful procession if they have the permission to carry it out.

PROCESS TO CARRY OUT RELIGIOUS PROCESSION IN PUBLIC

To carry out a religious procession, rally or a protest, there are specific requirements which include a written permission from the District DCP by giving him all necessary details regarding the procession, rally or protest that needs to be carried out. The permission is required from the Police headquarters, New Delhi, in case the event is spread to more than one district. Permission regarding the use of loud speakers during procession must comply with Noise Pollution Rules framed under Environment Protection Act, 1986 according to the Supreme Court’s order. NOC and permission are required from the land owning authority which must be carried along during the procession.

If it is later found that the procession is   disorderly and violent the police can stop them and ask them to discontinue the same. The actions of the DCP should be reasonable with proper justification. The police are not there to punish people but to ensure their safety and to maintain law and order, so they must use force as the last resort. The DCP cannot use any force without the permission of Executive Magistrate and owing to which the DCP will decide how much force is needed for the particular situation to be controlled.  These situations will arise only when certain conditions are violated, such as;

• Occupying more than one-fourth of the width of the road for procession,
• The procession is taken out before 11 am and after 5 pm.
• The pandal is placed in the bye-lanes without getting clearance from the local Police and Traffic inspector.
• The use of loud speakers, public Address and Music system is done before 6 am and after 10 pm and indulging in activities such as bursting of crackers and firing of weapons during a procession, meeting or a gathering resulting in declaring the procession as unlawful in the event of non-compliance and the prosecution can be framed against the violators.
• Violation may also attract court proceedings for the use of loudspeakers where action can be taken under Noise Pollution (regulation and control) rules 2000 framed under  the Environment protection act, 1986.

WHAT THE COURTS HAVE HELD

In the case Maharishi Valmiki Janmotsav Committee (Regd.) Delhi   vs. Commissioner of Police and Ors., it was observed by the Delhi High Court that keeping in mind the law & order, and also the traffic point of view, the Court agreed with the notice sent by the Delhi police for the request to grant permission for ShobhaYatra could not be acceded as the Secretary of Maharishi Janmotsav Committee (Mr. Sanjay Kamwal) was affiliated to Mohan Singh Pehlwan and his four brothers who were all notorious criminals and several criminal cases filed against them.

Religion is one’s faith for self-attainment of eternal bliss. Right to believe in one’s religion does not affect anyone else. It is only when one’s belief is practiced through outward acts that its practice starts to affect the others.  The constitution of various nations guarantee freedom of religion and the laws of most of these countries also circumscribe the scope to exercise such rights. These grounds are generally restricted on the grounds of ‘public order’, ‘health’, ‘morality’, ‘rights of others’, etc. The terms used are very general therefore making it difficult for a person to arrive at a uniform understanding of the limitations of the right to freedom of religion.

Reference can be made to the second deadly stampede that took place during an Indian festival, namely RathYatra or Chariot Festival in the temple of Puri in Orissa, in which the permission was taken for only a few thousands of people but ended up in a gathering of almost the whole of Orissa. Deadly stampedes are very common during Indian religious festivals where thousands of people gather in small areas creating a lot of troubles where safety measures are not in place.

In the case  Acharya Jagdishwarananda Avadhuta and Ors v. Commissioner of Police, Calcutta, and Anr, it was held that Tandava Dance has been prescribed as a religious dance for every follower of Ananda Margis yet the Tandava Dance cannot be performed as a religious Procession in public. The court said that the petitioner cannot claim his fundamental right under article 25 and 26 to perform the tandava dance in public. Still the respondent performed the tandava dance in public violating the orders of the court. Therefore, the respondent stated that even though Ananda Margi which has been declared by the court as a religion is singled out by West Bengal court because it is based on spirituality. The respondent also stated that there are many processions of various hues which are regularly  taken out; the Muslim festival of Muharram is taken out with deadly weapons and Sikh celebration with sword fighting display in public and these are the examples of religious tolerance in our country and hence the court held that these processions are not going to harm  public tranquility but Tandava Dance was not allowed to be performed because the court said that it is offensive and against  morality and is bound to create external problems affecting people’s life and safety and also harming children, and such procession if allowed will cause widespread panic, public disturbance and also cause traffic.

In India, all people are equally entitled to freely practice, propagate and profess their religion. However, this is a right which is subjected to public order, health and morality to the other provisions of the constitution of India. Article 25(2) of the Indian Constitution provides for the interference of the State in matters related to financial, economic, and political or other secular activity which is related to reform or social welfare. In India, people believe in a religious procession with all their heart and follow all the methods and techniques of the procession with complete purity. In Said Manzur Hassan vs. Saiyid Muhammed, the Privy Council was of the view that every religion has a right to conduct its religious procession with its proper observances along a highway. People practicing various religions are allowed to conduct religious procession through public streets so that they do not intervene in the informal use of such streets as the magistrate may lawfully give to prevent and stop breach of the public peace, But the claim by one to attain the services of the highway to take out their religious procession is not justifiable and also untenable.

CONCLUSION

In India, religion is a way of life for people. It is a very important part of the traditions that people follow.. According to me, the common practices in religions such as music, dance and feasting have crept in under the bracket of a procession which Indians follow with all their love and devotions. Each of it has its own heroes, pilgrimage sites, legends and specialties for which they are the center of attraction. In a country like India, religious processions are carried out with utmost love, faith, and devotions where all the devotees show immense belief and love toward their religion and celebrate their religion in full sway. Hence, the SPARK OF RELIGIOUS PROCESSION IN INDIA tells us what energy and light it brings to peoples life and belief of people since years long concludes their love towards their gods and goddesses.