Jahanvi Agarwal
On 18th September 2023, the Madras High Court’s decision to not allow the selling of Ganesh idols made of plaster of Paris was upheld by the Supreme Court without any intervention. In a special hearing on 17th September 2023, a division bench of the High Court issued the decision. One of the aggrieved artisans rushed to the Supreme Court and requested an urgent hearing because the festival starts on 19th Sept 2023.
Senior Advocate Shyam Divan requested an urgent hearing from the court in the morning, and the matter was heard at the conclusion of the board at approximately 4.20 p.m.
The appeal, however, was denied by a panel consisting of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
The counsel tried to convince the court that the petitioner should be permitted to deliver the idols for which orders had been placed and payments had been received. However, the court stated that eco-friendly materials might be used to make the idols and that immersion of idols constructed with plaster of Paris was also not permitted.
The court noted that:
“The appellate order is interim in nature. What is the use of selling idols that cannot be immersed…You could have used natural clay.”