PIL demanding ban on religionbased courses in varsities dismissed

ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad high court on Tuesday dismissed a PIL challenging the legality of courses on ‘Karma Kand’ in Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and on Islamic religious practices at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

‘Karma Kand’ is a part of Vedic writings which relates to ceremonial acts and sacrificial rites in Hinduism. The bench comprising Chief Justice DB Bhosale and justice Yashwant Varma dismissed the petition filed by Shashwat Anand and five others, all law students.

In the petition teaching of such courses were challenged on the ground that they violates the Article 28 of the Constitution which prohibits religious teachings in educational institutions that run on government fund.

The bench observed that, “Petitioner has not placed any material on record to show as to why, according to him, the philosophy of ‘Karma Kand’ cannot be taught in the university. Further, he could not bring any material to show that any particular part of that course cannot be taught in the university or that any such teaching would violate Article 28 (1) of the Constitution.” The bench while dismissing the petition observed, “Article 28(1) of the Constitution of India cannot be read as prohibiting study of different religions existing in India and outside India. The Constitution of India does not prohibit study of different religions and hence the universities cannot be stopped from running such courses.”

THE BENCH COMPRISING CHIEF JUSTICE DB BHOSALE AND JUSTICE YASHWANT VARMA DISMISSED THE PETITION FILED BY SHASHWAT ANAND, FIVE OTHERS,