Bureau Prayagraj, Chhattisgarh High Court said in an important decision that there is no law to stop a person from organizing a prayer meeting in his home. There is no need to take prior permission from any authority for this provided it does not violate law and order or other rules.
A bench of Justice Naresh Kumar Chandravanshi made the observation while quashing the notices issued by the police, which had prevented the petitioners from holding a prayer meeting of the Christian community at their house. The court said, “There is no law preventing a person from organizing a prayer or prayer meeting at his place of residence. If it is organized without any illegal activity then it does not require prior permission.”
The petitioner in the case is a resident of village Godhana, district Janjgir-Champa, who was organizing prayer meetings in his house since the year 2016. According to him, there was no chaos or illegal activity in these events. Still, the police tried to stop them from organizing such events by issuing notices.
The High Court clarified that if noise or law and order problem arises during the prayer meeting, then the administration has the right to take action. However, merely on the ground that a meeting is being organized it cannot be stopped. The court directed the police not to interfere with the civil rights of the petitioners and not to harass them unnecessarily. With this, the High Court accepted the petition, canceling the related police notices.
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