NEW DELHI: Justice Abhay S Oka, a sitting judge in the Supreme Court on Monday urged that instead of performing ‘puja’ or lighting lamps in events of the judiciary, authorities now need to make way to bowing down to the Preamble of the Constitution of India.
Justice Oka was reportedly attending a “Bhoomi Poojan” ceremony for the inauguration of a new district court building in Pune, when he made this remark. He indicated that the thrust of such events of the judiciary should be on core constitutional principles instead, and urged the legal fraternity to espouse Dr. BR Ambedkar’s mindset.
He said, “We have to stop doing pooja-archana or lighting lamp kind of rituals during any events related to the judiciary. Instead, we should keep the Preamble of the Constitution and bow down to it to start any event. We need to start this new thing to respect our constitution and it's value”.
According to a report in Economic Times, he was in attendance with fellow Supreme Court judges, Justices BR Gavai and Prasanna B Varale, the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay, and the Guardian Justice of Pune Justice Rvati Mohite Dere.
Adding on to Justice Oka's suggestion, Justice BR Gavai suggested, “Instead of performing pooja of a specific religion we should mark the foundation with a spade. We should inaugurate the event by watering the plants instead of the lamp lighting ceremony as suggested by our colleague Anil Killore. It will also send out a good message to (the) society in terms of the environment.”
