The Karnataka High Court on Monday, September 15, dismissed three PILs challenging the invitation to Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate the Mysuru Dasara celebrations.
A division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Joshi said that the court was not convinced that any rights were violated, LiveLaw reported.
One of the petitions was filed by former Mysuru-Kodagu MP Prathap Simha. The other two were filed by Girish Kumar T and HS Gaurav.
“We are not persuaded to accept that permitting a person of different faith to the function organised by the state violates any legal or constitutional right of petitioners or is in any manner opposed to values enshrined in the Constitution of India. Accordingly, petitions are dismissed,” the bench reportedly said.
The court also noted that no temple or trustee had approached the court. The copy of the order is awaited.
Advocate for Prathap Simha S Sudarshan argued before the court that only a person who was of Hindu faith could inaugurate the Dasara celebration. He also referred to Banu Mushtaq’s comments made during the Jana Sahitya Sammelana in 2023, in which she questioned the representation of the Kannada language as the goddess Bhuvaneshwari.
Responding to this, the court said that those remarks were someone’s opinion. The judges asked, “Are you saying in this country people cannot voice their opinion? You tell what is your constitutional right,” Live Law further reported.
Sudharsan then argued that Dasara was a predominantly Hindu celebration, to which the court said, “...you establish your rights ... We cannot go on opinions. Article 26, if you read it, is right for religious belief … for example, poojari rights. You are not holding any property. No property is being taken away from you. No religious seat is upset. So how is Article 26 … attracted?"
Article 26 of the Constitution guarantees the freedom of religion to citizens.
Sudarashan said that only a Hindu by faith could be invited to inaugurate the Dasara festivities. However, the court observed that public representatives had taken the decision.
Appearing for the state, Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty pointed out that Prathap Simha himself had shared the dais with poet KS Nisar Ahmed when he was invited to inaugurate the Dasara festivities in 2017.
He also said that the Mysuru Dasara was a state festival in which people of all religions participate and that the committee to invite the chief guest had 62 members, including MPs and MLAs of all parties.
Reacting to the verdict, Prathap Simha said on X that if what Banu Mushtaq said is considered freedom of expression, the Siddaramaiah government should withdraw cases against “our leaders”.
Posting a video clip of Banu Mushtaq’s 2023 speech at the Jana Sahitya Sammelana, Prathap Simha said, “We had brought this speech before the court. If this is considered freedom of expression, and not hatred towards Hindu deities and turmeric-vermillion, which are part of Hindu culture, then many FIRs filed against our leaders by the Siddaramaiah government should be withdrawn.”
The state government invited Kannada writer Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate the Mysuru Dasara on September 22. Right-wing groups and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have objected to this, claiming that Dasara is a Hindu festival and that a non-Hindu should not be invited to inaugurate it. Several writers have come out in support of the government’s invitation, arguing that the Mysuru Dasara was a state festival, pointing out that the state government spent crores of rupees organising it.