The Top Court on Monday dismissed an appeal filed against the Madras High Court order stating that Ganesh idols made of plaster of paris cannot be manufactured and sold in Tamil Nadu.
The bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra stated, “You could have used natural clay. Sorry, petition dismissed.”
During the hearing, advocate Amit Anand Tiwari, who appeared for the Tamil Nadu government, said guidelines issued by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) prohibited even the manufacturing of idols made of plaster of Paris. The guidelines prescribed that even the idols made of eco-friendly materials have to be immersed in private water tanks and not in public water bodies, he added
The Supreme Court was hearing an appeal filed against an order of a Madras High Court division bench passed during a special hearing on Sunday. The division bench stayed the order of a single-judge bar allowing the sale of Ganesh idols made of plaster of Paris.
The single-judge bench at Madurai heard the plea on Saturday and held that the sale of such idols could not be stopped and that only their immersion in water bodies was prevented. The division bench stayed the order on Sunday.