MOHD UMAR Vs. JUGAL KISHORE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a defendants first appeal in a suit for declaration and damages. The plaintiffs came into Court describing, themselves as members of the Hindu community of the town of Deoband and claiming to represent the general body of Hindus resident in that town. They sue the defendants in a representative capacity as representing the Mahomedan community of Deoband. They put forward the allegations that in the town of Deoband there is a temple or thakurdwara of the deity Lord Krishna and they said that it was customary to celebrate the birthday of Lord Krishna, commonly known elsewhere as Janamashtami, in the town of Deoband. They said that the celebrations began from Bhadon Badi first and finished on the 11 and that on the 10 it was the custom to take out the idol in procession through the town on a golden chariot accompanied by music, akha-ras of athletes, elephants, horses, bullocks and so on and that this procession followed a specific route through the town from the thakurdwara to a place called Debi Kund where certain ceremonies took place, after which the idol was brought back to the thakurdwara. It was alleged that these particular celebrations including the procession lasted from early in the morning until about 10 O clock at night and were known by the name of the Krishna Leela, not to be confused with the Ram Leela which commonly takes place in the month of October. The plaintiffs alleged that the Hindus had a natural and legal right to take out this procession on the 10 Bhadon accompanied by music without any let or hindrance by any person of any other persuasion or following any other religion, irrespective of the fact that mosques or places of worship belonging to persons following religions other than the Hindu religion may be situate along side or near the public streets through which the procession is taken out.

(2.) They further alleged that never until recently (and by recently it later appeared that they meant the year 1938) had any objection ever been raised by any member of the Mahomedan community to the procession being taken out in the manner described, but that during this period a claim had been put forward by the Mahomedans that the procession should not be conducted with music at any time of the day or night along the street close to two mosques known as the mosque Sabungaran and the Dini Mosque and that when this procession passed near other mosques at the time of prayers music should be stopped even if these mosques did not abut on the streets along which the procession was to pass. They further said that the Mahomedans had started to obstruct the plaintiffs in the exercise of their lawful right of taking out this procession and to obstruct them from playing music not only in front of the doors of the two mosques but also along the whole length of two streets demarcated by points A and B and points C and D in the map filed with the plaint, those lengths being in the neighbourhood of the two mosques above mentioned. They said very vaguely that this obstruction offered by the defendants gradually became serious with the result that the plaintiffs had now altogether been prevented (how was not stated) from taking out the procession to the accompaniment of music which forms an essential part of the worship of the idol. They further said that the defendants had recently put forward the claim that the persons who would accompany the procession should not assemble before 1 P.M. and that the celebration should be concluded before a fixed hour in the evening, which it subsequently appears was 8 P.M. In this way, they said that due to some undefined action of the Mahomedans the rights of the Hindus to take out this procession without any restrictions had been interfered with. In para. 13 of the plaint some elucidation was given of the claim that the defendants had interfered and thereby prevented the plaintiff's from exercising their rights. It was stated that in order to prevent the plaintiffs from exercising their rights the defendants had been making false representations to the executive authorities, who although bound under the law to assist the plaintiffs in the exercise of their lawful rights had of late owing to the threats offered by the defendants imposed restrictions upon the plaintiffs during the relevant period. It was alleged that the conduct of the defendants in causing obstructions, offering threats of forcible obstruction and in making false representations to the public authorities and obtaining orders which were prejudicial to the rights of the plaintiffs is unlawful and amounts to a tort. It was by these pleadings that the plaintiffs-set out the cause of action which they claimed to have against the defendants. In para. IT of the plaint they further stated: The cause of action for the suit arose in 1935 when the defendants first started raising obstructions, in September 1939 when the defendants committed unlawful acts and in December 1939 on the last refusal of the defendants from desisting from preventing the plaintiffs from exercising their lawful rights at Deoband.

(3.) The reliefs which the plaintiffs claimed by their suit were the following : (a) It may be declared that the plaintiffs and the Hindu residents of the town of Deoband are entitled to take out the procession of Krishna Lila along the public streets and routes as indicated in red in the plan attached in Deoband to the accompaniment of music and other things as described in para. 3 of the plaint without any restriction of place and time or of the manner of conducting the procession, and that they are entitled to perform the ceremony of offering turbans as mentioned in para, 4 of the plaint (this related to a preliminary function in the way of a procession by akharas on the 1 of Bhadon) and that the defendants have no right to offer any obstruction or hindrance to the plaintiffs, (b) A perpetual injunction may be granted to the defendants restraining them from causing any obstruction or hindrance to the plaintiffs in the exercise of their right to perform the worship and to make celebrations of Krishna Lila and to conduct the procession with music and to perform the ceremony of offering turbans in the manner described in relief (a), (c) A decree for Rs. 1000 be awarded in favour of the plaintiffs against the defendants. This last prayer arose out of para. 15 of the plaint in which it was stated that the conduct and the acts of the defendants are unlawful and the defendants are liable to pay damages to the plaintiffs. As a result of the defendants acts, the plaintiffs have suffered great pain and mental worry and their religious feelings have been so seriously injured that they cannot be described on paper and they have also suffered pecuniary loss. The plaintiffs have suffered heavy damages but they limit their claim only to Rs. 1000.