Apex court rejects plea to ban idol immersion

In a judgment that might come as a dampener to green activists, the Supreme Court on Friday rejected a plea to ban idol immersions in rivers, lakes and other water bodies.
“Restrictions would militate against the fundamental right of a section of citizens to profess and practice the religion of their choice,” a bench comprising chief justice KG Balakrishnan and justice JM Panchal observed.

The petitioner, Salek Chand Jain, had sought a ban on the practice saying it was contaminating rivers and other water bodies beyond redemption. “The immersion of idols in water bodies contaminates water and makes it unpotable,” Jain’s lawyer Sugreev Dubey had argued. Jain had also contended that the practice not only flouts his fundamental right to life but also the provisions of the Water Prevention and Control of Pollution Act, 1974.