AGRA/PRAYAGRAJ: The Allahabad high court on Friday said that “Parliament must bring law to pay ‘rashtriya samman’ (national honour) to Lord Ram, Lord Krishna, Ramayan and its author Valmiki besides Gita and its author Maharishi Ved Vyas, as they are the culture and heritage of the country”.
The court added that the Constitution allows one to be atheist, but it does not mean that one can pass obscene remarks against gods and goddesses. These observations were made by Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav while allowing bail application of one Akash Jatav of Hathras, who is accused of sharing objectionable images of Hindu deities on social media. He was arrested on January 4.
Last month, Justice Yadav had hit headlines when he had said that the government should bring a bill in Parliament to give fundamental rights to cows and to declare it the national animal. While denying bail to a man accused of cow slaughter, Justice Yadav in his 12-page order had also said that “scientists believe cow is the only animal that inhales and exhales oxygen”.
