The high court on Thursday cleared the hurdles for the controversial centuries-old Made Snana ritual at Kukke Subramanya temple. The court has made it clear that the ritual should be performed only with the ‘naivedya’ (offering for God) and that there should no bar on any religion or caste. The court also made it clear that no one should be forced to perform the ritual and it should be left to volunteering devotees.
The court passed the orders based on an affidavit filed by the State government seeking permission to allow the ritual, while assuring that it shall not be performed on leftover food of devotees.
The additional advocate-general submitted that ‘made snana’ was not aimed at creating division among castes or religious groups. When the bench asked whether upper caste people also roll on leftovers of food consumed by members of lower castes, the government submitted that there is no compulsion on any one and the ritual is performed purely based on beliefs.
Several people had moved the court seeking to ban ‘made snana’.
Judge recuses from case,Justice H.N. Nagmohan Das on Thursday recused himself from hearing a criminal petition filed by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) seeking to stay the Lokayukta court’s order pertaining to alleged irregularities in the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Project undertaken by it.
The judge said he had represented the complainant T.J. Abraham in similar matters earlier when he was an advocate. “I am disabled and therefore I cannot take up the matter”, the judge said. He then directed the HC registry to place the matter before the Chief Justice who would take a decision on assigning it to an appropriate bench.