Above: A PIL in SC said that burning of Ravana’s effigy is illegal. Photo: UNI

Anand Prakash Sharma had filed a PIL with the Supreme Court, asking for the burning of statues/effigies of Ravana to be stopped. The case came up for hearing before the Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud on Monday (July 10).

The PIL said that this burning is unnecessary and illegal. Such action is not written/prescribed in any granth, said the PIL. Ravana had dedicated (his life) towards many things, it said. He was not that bad. No one knows when they started burning the statues of Ravana. Hence this should be stopped.

The CJI observed: “This is their own belief. Article 25 (freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion) is there. We cannot interfere and hence we dismiss this PIL.”

—India Legal Bureau