Protect Or Violate Law: HC to Government On Idol Immersion

The Telangana High Court today declined to relax its previous orders on Ganesh idol immersion in the Hussain Sagar.

The bench of acting Chief Justice Ramchandra Rao and Justice Vinod Kumar also pulled up the government for not taking steps to make alternate measurements for immersion of big idol.

The GHMC had appealed to the court in a review petition to relax its orders banning Plaster of Paris idols from being immersed in the Hussain Sagar, and other related orders including non-Tank Bund immersion points, temporary rubber dams and colour idols. The corporation said that the situation would go out of hand if the HC's previous orders were to be implemented, due to the Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samithi (BGUS) calling for protests.

The court however directed that alternative arrangements should be made for the immersion of PoP idols.

It also said that it was up to the government to decide whether to protect the law or violate it.

"The present situation was created by the government, and it is the government which has to address the problems and not the court. We cannot let the lake and the environment get polluted. We have the responsibility to implement the law, and the government can decide on whether to violate it or protect it," the bench said.

The court also sought to know why the government had reacted slowly after the verdict.