BCI President’s letter to Chief Justice of India demanding closure of courts and declaration of holiday on January 22, religious festival of Ram Temple, Ayodhya has been widely protested by AILU across the country

Bar Council of India President Manan Kumar Mishra has written to the Chief Justice of India Justice DY Chandrachud to declare a holiday for all courts in the country on January 22. The All India Lawyers Union (AILU) and many other lawyers’ organizations in the country and lawyers and judges expressed their displeasure against this action.

According to AILU, ‘Pran-pratishtha’ in Ram temple, Ayodhya or any other temple is only a religious function and not the work of government in the way the present central government is creating the environment. There is no religious festival on that day either. Communal polarization is being done in the country to gain advantage in the elections. This program is being done as a political campaign and election preparation.

However, it is not the business of the courts to be part of such religious and communal polarization and political propaganda. The court should not surrender its existence, independence and judicial sovereignty to the government. India is a secular country and the government has no religion. The event on 22nd of Ayodhya has no religious, cultural, national or international significance. The whole purpose of this exercise is basically to project hardcore political Hinduism as Indian nationalism, to politicize religion and get votes from it in upcoming Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections by religious polarization. The temple-mosque controversy, the demolition of the Babri Masjid, and subsequent riots, vandalism, arson, murder and rape by communal organizations and people of both religions destroyed social fabric of nation. Whole Episode is a wound on the political and moral values of modern India.

Therefore, giving a holiday in respect of this temple program is a completely wrong and inappropriate indication of the secular and democratic values of the Constitution of India. It is beyond the jurisdiction of the Chief Justice of India and dishonourable to the dignity of the Chief Justice of India to seek and grant such leave from the Bar Council of India.

It is the duty of the judicial system to preserve and perpetuate the values of secular constitutional morality. It is wrong for the Bar Council of India to participate in the ruling party’s religio-political type of agenda like this. That is why the letter written by the BCI President to the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India requesting him to declare leave is highly objectionable, inappropriate and acceptable.

This action of the President of the Bar Council of India is unilateral. Neither the BCI nor its chairman represents the will of the majority of lawyers in India. His personal will is against the wishes of all the constituents of the judiciary who are interested in the constitutional values of India and who are making legal arguments to preserve them. The All India Lawyers Union strongly condemns this offensive behavior and action of the President of the Bar Council and demands immediate withdrawal of this letter.