BANGALORE: SV Ranganath, Chief Secretary of the State Government has said that
the state government has ordered demolition of all places of worship that have been
constructed unauthorisedly in public places and that the task has to be completed by
December 31.
The Chief Secretary has issued a circular in this regard to all the deputy commissioners,
chiefs of local administrative bodies and chief executive officers of Zilla Panchayats.
The Chief Secretary, in his order has also made it clear that if there are unauthorized
constructions which have been leading to strifes owing to the presence of more than one
place of worship of different communities at a place, then such constructions should not
be retained for any reason.
He also said that permission should be first be given to shift the belongings in the place
of worship before resorting to demolition.
He said the order has been issued in accordance to a Supreme Court ruling which states
that places of worship that have come up in public places after 2009 should be razed to
the ground.
In case the unauthorized places of worship in public places do not cause any problem
to the public, then the DCs concerned have to visit the place and then take steps to
regularize the same if everything was proper. The DCs will have to submit a report to the
Home Secretary within three months in this regard, he informed.
Every district will have a committee headed by the Deputy Commissioner to oversee
this matter and the committee will have to report to the government every month on
the progress registered in the implementation of the order. He also warned the local
administrative bodies against permitting construction of places of worship in public
places.
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