In a significant verdict preventing the growth of increasing number of mosques in the state, the Kerala High Court rejected a petition to convert a commercial building into a Muslim place of worship. The court further issued a direction to the State Government to close down religious places and prayer halls that were functioning illegally and without permission.
In this regard, Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan directed the Chief Secretary of State of Kerala and the State Police Chief to issue necessary orders/circulars directing all the officers concerned to see that there were no illegal functioning of any religious places and prayer halls without obtaining permission from the competent authorities. The petition for the new mosque comes from a locality where there are 36 mosques.
The Chief Secretary of the State of Kerala should also issue necessary orders/circulars directing the competent authority as per the Manual of Guidelines to consider each application to start religious places and prayer halls strictly and the approval can be granted only in appropriate cases. In such orders, it also ought to be mentioned that the distance to the nearest similar religious place/prayer hall is one of the criteria when considering the application for religious places and prayer halls.
(With inputs from Live Law)
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