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SC refuses to interfere with French
law
WSN Network
 NEW
DELHI:
A
Sikh forum on Tuesday presented an impossible task before the
Supreme Court — to extend its jurisdiction to
France to
protect religious rights of the community, perceived to be under
threat from a local law banning exhibition of religious symbols by
citizens.
A bench
comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices R V
Raveendran and Mukundakam Sharma chuckled at the suggestion but
tried to reason it out with petitioner ‘Singh Legal Forum’ that it
was a matter for the ministry of external affairs to take up with
the French government and that the apex court had no role to play.
Petitioner’s
counsel persisted with the plea for relief from the SC on the ground
that there was no tangible help from the government and there had
been no let up in the implementation of the rigorous French law,
which was enacted in 2004 and was hurting the religious sentiments
of a sizeable number of Sikhs in France.
The bench,
unable to make the petitioner see reason, said, “The government had
taken up the matter with the French government and the SC can do
little in this.” The unrelenting petitioner angered the Bench. The
bench said, “Then you go before the International Court of Justice
or the European Human Rights Commission. We do not have jurisdiction
over other countries.”
The petitioner
NGO had first moved the
Punjab
and Haryana high court in 2005. The high court, after seeking
replies from the Centre, had dismissed the petition saying the
government had done its bit and the French government had clarified
that the 2004 law applied to all religious communities equally and
that there was no discriminatory application of the legislation
banning exhibition of religious symbols in public.
14
May,
2008
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