By TCN News,
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has directed the Union of India to grant leave to Christian employees of the Ministry of Finance on Good Friday and Easter, two of the most important days in the faith calendar marking the Crucifixion and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The order came on a Public Interest Litigation petition filed by All India Christian Council secretary general Dr John Dayal challenging the notification of the Central Board of Excise and Customs.Department of Revenue of the Union Finance ministry ordering all staff to work on the two days to meet the rush of people depositing their tax dues before 31st March, the last day of the financial year 2012-2013. The notification, No F.No 296 / 42/ 2013 –CX.9, was issued 15th March 2013. The Christian community had also moved the National Commission for Minorities and written to the finance minister.
Advocates Robin Ratnakar David, Pramod Singh, Tehmina Ram Arora, Febin Mathew Verghese, Vivek Oriel, and Esha Shekhar appeared for the petitioner. Justice Pradeep Nandrajog, who gave an interim order, fixed 2nd April 2013 for further hearings.
Arguing for the Petitioner, counsel said the notification was an infringement of the fundamental rights of the minority community enshrined in the Constitution, as also in United Nations declarations which had been signed by India. It prevented the rights of the people to go to church for a congregational worship. The government, in fact, acknowledged the importance of Good Friday by notifying them as Gazetted Holidays. The last such order notifying Gazetted holidays was issued by the Department of Personnel and Training on 5th June 2012.Counsel said the matter was of a very urgent nature as Good Friday would come within two days.
As the High Court is on a brief vacation, Justice Nandrajog heard the matter in his chambers. He noted that the Christian community was a mere 2.3 per cent of the population. There should, he said, be a balance of matters of faith and the government’s desire to maximize its revenue before the end of the financial year.u