The Chhattisgarh High Court has found that the controversial direction through a circular by the State government to all government schools in the state to begin the class with the recitation of the Saraswati Vandana, Gayatri Mantra, Guru Mantra and other prayers during morning assemblies did not coerce or compel students to recite in conflict with their religion or faith and, therefore, did not violate their fundamental rights.
Dismissing a writ petition challenging the circular issued by the School Education Department on June 12, Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad held that the challenge was premature, the petitioners having failed to establish any actual infringement of constitutional rights arising from its implementation.
The Judge observed that a careful reading of the impugned circular disclosed no mandatory or coercive direction requiring any student to participate in the prescribed recitations against his or her faith or conscience.
In the absence of any material demonstrating that a student had been compelled to do so, the Court found no basis for holding that the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion had been violated.
The petitioners had further contended that the circular offended Article 28(1) of the Constitution, which prohibits religious instruction in educational institutions wholly maintained out of State funds.
Rejecting the submission, the Court held that the constitutional prohibition is confined to religious instruction in the strict sense of teaching religious doctrines, customs, rituals or modes of worship, and does not extend to moral instruction unconnected with denominational beliefs.
Such instruction, the Court observed, remains an important element in the cultivation of responsible citizenship, public order and social harmony.
The circular directs government schools to include the National Anthem, the National Song, the Deep Mantra, the Saraswati Vandana and the Guru Mantra during the morning assembly. It further provides for the reading of biographies of eminent personalities, the recitation of the Bhojan Mantra before the midday meal, and the Gayatri Mantra together with the Shanti Mantra before the close of the school day.
The petition was instituted by former Chhattisgarh Waqf Board chairman Abdul Salam Rizvi, former Minority Department chairman Mahendra Chhabda and Bilaspur-based social activist Shafique Ahmed.
They submitted that the circular accorded official preference to prayers associated with one faith while excluding others, thereby compromising the constitutional obligation of religious neutrality. It was further argued that the circular failed to provide any mechanism whereby students might decline participation on grounds of conscience or religion.