“The court cannot sit in judgement on a holy book like Koran, Bible, Geeta and Granth Sahib”, Justice Basak of Calcutta High Court had stated in his order in 1985 on a petition seeking ban on the Quran.
Syed Khalique Ahmed | India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI—Former chairman of UP Shia Central Waqf Board Waseem Rizvi has created a controversy by raising objection to some of the Ayats (verses) of the Holy Quran considered by him to incite violence and demanded their deletion from the holy Book of Islam through his petition in the Supreme Court. However, his petition is yet to be listed and heard.
Though he has not in detail revealed about the Ayats that he has chosen to challenge in the apex court, the issue assumes significance from his media statements that these Ayats were inserted into the Holy Book of Islam by first three Caliphs-Abu Bakr, Umar and Usman-thus trying to prove that entire Quran is not the word of Allah though Muslims all over the world believe that entire Quran is the Word of Allah and was revealed on Prophet Muhammed through Angel Jibreel or Gabriel.
But what Waseem Rizvi has done or is trying to do through judicial process is to promote hatred against Muslims and Islam in India, particularly at a time when the Indian society is the most polarized thanks to certain political groups whose only agenda is Islamophobia to gain political dividends and consolidate their political position. It is not for the first time in India that questions are being raised about certain verses of the Quran. The only difference is that in the past it were non-Muslims who took up this issue and this time, a man with a Muslim-sounding name and identifying himself as Waseem Rizvi has come to the fore. While the previous writ petitions demanded a ban on the Holy Quran, Rizvi’s petition, as told to media by him, demands deletion of 26 verses from the Quran while Muslims all over the world believe that every word in the Quran is from Allah and unalterable. So, Waseem Rizvi is creating a new mischief.
Is Waseem Rizvi Acting On Behest of His Political Masters?
It is, however, not clear if Waseem Rizvi is doing this by himself or at the behest of some political or socio-religious groups whose agenda is to target Muslims and create problems for them. Since Rizvi has raised the same issue that was earlier taken up by the Hindutva groups, it suggests that Waseem Rizvi is playing in the hands of those persons who have in the past tried to use judiciary to defame Islam and promote hatred and enmity against Muslims in India.
It was in mid-eighties when the then Congress Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, cornered by Hindutva groups, unlocked the Babri Masjid( it yielded his party good political dividends) that some people in West Bengal made a bid to seek a ban on the Holy Quran, thus trying to further polarize the society to promote interests of some political parties based on Hindutva ideology.
It was in July and August 1984 that a Kolkata resident Himangu Kishore Chakraborty wrote letters to the Secretary, Home Department, Government of West Bengal, seeking ban on the Quran and seizure of its copies in all languages on the ground that the Islamic Scripture promoted disharmony and ill-will between members of different communities.
Chandmal Chopra, Sital Singh File Petition in Calcutta High Court for Ban on The Quran
After Chakraborty failed to get the desired response that two persons-Chandmal Chopra and Sital Singh-moved the Calcutta High Court on March 29, 1985, claiming that the Quran promotes “disharmony, feeling of enmity, hatred and ill-will between religious communities and incite people to commit violence and disturb public tranquility”. They demanded banning of the Holy Quran by filing a writ application in the High Court.
So, what Rizvi has done now is in the chain of efforts to malign Islam and Muslims by targeting the Holy Quran and encourage hatred against Muslims in India. If the prayer is accepted, there is likelihood of disturbances of unimaginable proportions because it would mean abolition of Islam in India because the Quran is the basic foundation of Islam.
High Court Rejects Petition
Though the Calcutta High Court on May 13, 1985, rejected the petition after hearing all the parties involved, it would be worth discussing what was the allegations in the petition and why the court rejected the application, observing that the petition was “motivated” and clearly stated that it was not within the jurisdiction of the court to decide on banning the Quran or holy books of other religions.
The petitioners had argued that publication of the Quran with such materials like creating disharmony and ill-will between communities is an offence punishable under Indian Penal Code’s sections 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.—Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise, insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to four years, or with fine, or with both.) Hence, the Quran, the petitioners prayed, be proscribed and each copy of the Book, whether in original Arabic, or its translations in Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, English or in any other language be forfeited under Section 95 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
The petitioners had submitted a list of three sets of Ayats(verses). The first set contained 37 Ayats which, according to petitioners, preach “cruelty, incite violence and disturb public tranquility”. The second set carried 17 Ayats which, they argued, “promote, on grounds of religion, feeling of enmity, hatred and ill-will between different communities in India” and the third set was the compilation of 31 Ayats which, the petitioners felt, “insult other religions as also the religious beliefs of other communities in India”. So, the writ petition had placed a total of 85 Ayats from the Quran which, according to petitioners, was “inimical to public peace, communal harmony and religious belief of those who did not subscribe to Islam”.
The then Justice Padma Khastgir in whose court the writ petition was filed, issued notices to the state government and the Union government “to show cause as to why the Quran should not be banned” .
However, the then Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court Satish Chandra, who had “serious difference of opinion” on the issue with Justice Khastgir, transferred the petition to the court of Justice B C Basak. The then chief minister of West Bengal Jyoti Basu condemned the petition as “despicable act”.
In response to the high court notice, Timir Haran Sen Gupta, Deputy Secretary, Home Department, Government of West Bengal, filed an affidavit before the court, saying that “the court has no jurisdiction to pronounce a judgement on the Quran, the Holy Scripture of the Muslims all over the world, each and every word of which, according to the Islamic belief, is unalterable”. He further stated in his affidavit, “As the Holy Quran is a Divine Book, no earthly power can sit upon judgement on it and no court of law has jurisdiction to adjudicate it. The Holy Books like the Quran, the Bible, the Geeta, the Granth Sahib etc. or their translations cannot be subject-matters of adjudication in a court of law. All Holy Scriptures are immune from judicial inquiry”.
The affidavit also said that “from the time of British Rule and since Independence, inspite of the Indian Penal Code being in existence, there has never been such an application in any court in India”.
The government affidavit also pointed out that the writ application has been filed with “malafide intention and should be dismissed with costs”. The state advocate general argued that if an order was passed as prayed for by the petitioners, it would amount to abolition of the religion of Islam. He submitted that “the prayer offends the provisions of Section 295 of IPC and therefore, the question of invoking jurisdiction of this court in respect of Section 295A of IPC cannot and does not arise”.
The Advocate General also submitted that “the Koran (Quran) has been in existence for a long time. No grievance has been made at any point of time by anyone to the effect as the petition is seeking to do before this court”.
Attorney General appearing on behalf of Union of India submitted that that the Quran “is the basis and foundation of the Muslim religion. This cannot be made justiciable in a court of law. The challenge of the petition amounts to not only an insult to the Muslim religion as such but against all other religions also.”
The Attorney General also argued that “certain passages taken out of context cannot be referred to for invoking the writ jurisdiction of this court”. The Attorney General submitted that the writ petition is in violation of the Constitution which guarantees all Indian citizens “liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship”.
In his judgement based on arguments of the petitioners and the representatives of the state and central governments, besides his own study of the Quran, Justice Bimal Chandra Basak observed that the “petition should have been rejected forthwith and in limine as unworthy of its consideration as soon as it was moved”.
The order categorically stated, “It is clear that this court has no power of jurisdiction to pass any such order” banning the Quran.
Verses Quoted Out of Context: Justice Basak
Agreeing with the government representatives, Justice Basak pointed out that some passages “quoted out of context cannot be allowed to dominate or influence the main aim and object of this Book. It is dangerous for any court to pass its judgements on such a Book by merely looking at certain passages out of context”.
He also made it clear that no action can be taken against the Quran under Section 295A of IPC as it is held as a sacred Book by a “class of persons” within meaning of Section 295 IPC. “Section 295 has no application in respect of a sacred Book which is protected under Section 295 of IPC”, Justice Basak ruled.
Justice Basak further said, “In my opinion it cannot be said that Koran (Quran) offers any insult to any religion. It does not reflect any deliberate or malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of non-Muslims. Isolated passages picked out from here and there and read out of context cannot change the position”.
Seeking Ban Was Against The Constitution
Stating that banning the Quran and forfeiture of its copies “would go against the Constitution and would violate the provisions of Article 25 itself”, Justice Basak commented, “The Preamble proclaims India to be a secular State. It means that each and every religion is to be treated equally. No preference is to be given to any particular religion. No religion is to be belittled. Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship are assured. Koran, which is the basic textbook of Mohammedans (Muslims), occupies a unique position to the believers of that faith as Bible is to the Christians and Gita, Ramayana and Mahabharata to the Hindus. In my opinion, if such an order is passed, it would take away the secularism of India and it would deprive a section of people of their right of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. This would also amount to infringement of Article 25 which provides that all persons shall be equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and to propagate religion. Banning or forfeiture of Koran would infringe that right. Such action would amount to abolition of the Muslim religion itself. Muslim religion cannot exist without Koran”.
Justice Basak further said that banning or forfeiting the copies of the Quran ” is unthinkable”.
“The court cannot sit in judgement on a holy book like Koran, Bible, Geeta and Granth Sahib”, Justice Basak’s order categorically stated.
Quran Not Prejudicial to Harmony
Stating that there is no question of banning the Book, Justice Basak ruled that “this Book is not prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religions. Because of the Koran, no public tranquility has been disturbed up to now and there is no reason to apprehend any likelihood of such disturbance in future. On the other hand, the action of petitioners may be said to have attempted to promote, on grounds of religion, disharmony, i.e., between Muslims on the one hand and non-Muslims on the other within the meaning of Section 153A.
Stating that the petition amounted to “insult or attempt to insult the Muslim religion and the religious belief of Muslims within the meaning of Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code”, Justice Basak ruled that the petition was ” motivated”.
“It is an affront to Islam’s Supreme Scriptural Authority. For this reason, the contention of the respondents that this application is motivated cannot be ruled out”, he said in his order.
The order further said, “The present case involves the sentiment and religious feelings of a minority community. The matter involves religious feelings of millions of people not only in India but also outside India. It involves a highly delicate and sensitive issue”.
Justice Basak observed, “The court should be circumspect in such kind of matters and be very cautious about the same. Otherwise, though it might attract cheap publicity but may cause untold misery and disruption of religious harmony. The High Court should have been spared of the embarrassment caused”.
Justice Basak also dismissed the review application in the case on June 21, 1985.
(The relevant portions of the petition and the judgement have been taken from the book titled The Calcutta Quran Petition (3rd edition), compiled and edited by Sita Ram Goel, printed in 1999, published by Voice of India, New Delhi).
