Irked over the Chief Justice of India over holding a judges conference on Good Friday, Supreme Court Judge Kurian Joseph has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He also declined the invitation to PM's dinner for judges on Saturday and added that no important programmes are held on holidays of religious significance.
"No important programmes are held on holidays of religious significance ceremonies. Being the guardian of Indian secularism, I request your Honour to kindly have in mind these concerns also while scheduling events and benevolently show equal importance and respect to the sacred days of all religions which are also declared as National holidays," he wrote in his letter to the PM.
The Chief Justice of India's three-day long conference is being held during the holy period for Christians from Good Friday to Eastern Sunday. Kurian had written a letter objecting to the timing of the conference of 24 high court chief justices.
"I may with deep anguish bring to your kind notice that such an important conference should not have been held when some of us, otherwise expected to be part of the event, or otherwise committed on account of the holy days when we have religious ceremonies and family get-together as well," he had written in his letter to CJI HL Dattu.
Maintaining that he was not striking a communal note, Justice Joseph said such serious programmes were not held during Diwali, Dussehra, Holi, Eid, etc.
However, Justice Dattu hit back saying the question the justice had to ask himself, as he cannot ask the judge, is "whether it is institutional interest or individual interest that one should preference to".
Justice Dattu, in a letter to Justice Joseph, said assuming that religious ceremonies and family get-togethers were important, then he could asked his family to join him in Delhi.
"Several other participants are coming from distant places, leaving behind families," the CJI had said.
The CJI got support from a former apex court judge Justice K T Thomas asking why Christians cannot work on Good Friday.
"In America, where 98 percent are Christians, Good Friday is a working day. Christians can attend Church service and go to work. But in India we are obsessed with holiday culture. I am totally opposed to this holiday mania that we suffer from," Justice Thomas said.
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