Chief Justice of India B R Gavai Thursday said he “respects all religions” after his oral remarks during a recent hearing of a plea seeking restoration of a Lord Vishnu idol in Madhya Pradesh’s Khajuraho set off a furore on social media.
CJI Gavai clarified that his comments were on the context of the fact that it was the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) which has jurisdiction over its upkeep. “I believe in all the religions, I respect all the (religions),” CJI Gavai said.
Presiding over a two-judge bench with Justice K Vinod Chandran, the Chief Justice of India made the comments on September 16 while dismissing the plea seeking the reconstruction of a dilapidated 7 feet tall Lord Vishnu idol at the Javari Temple in Khajuraho Temple complex.
“This purely publicity interest litigation… Go and ask the deity himself to do something. If you are saying that you are a strong devotee of Lord Vishnu, then you pray and do some meditation,” CJI Gavai told the petitioner.
On Thursday, a three-judge bench of CJI Gavai and Justices M M Sundresh and K Vinod Chandran was hearing an issue related to large-scale illegal iron ore mining in Karnataka when Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, pointed out that the media had published some reports about the Centre’s counsel being absent during earlier hearings.
CJI Gavai then highlighted his own concerns about the social media portrayals. Referring to the storm on social media over his September 16 remarks, CJI Gavai said, “On social media, nowadays it can be anything. Day before yesterday, somebody told me, ‘you have said something dismissive’”.
Mehta said, “I know the CJI for the last 10 years, my lord visits temples and places of all religions with reverence. This is serious, also, we used to know Newton’s law — every action has an equal reaction– now every action has a disproportionate social media reaction.”
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CJI Gavai added that he had also “advised” the petitioner that “there is also the Shiva Temple in Khajuraho, one of the biggest Lingas.”
