Yoga hurts no religion, it is an exercise, says Bombay High Court

The Bombay high court on Friday refused to grant a stay on Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) recent resolution making Surya Namaskar and yoga compulsory in civic-run schools in the city. “Don’t go by the name; it is just a type of exercise,” observed the division bench of Chief Justice Manjulla Chellur and Justice M.S. Sonak while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by social worker Masood Ansari.

The petition stated that the resolution passed by BMC on August 23 this year, making Surya Namaskar and yoga compulsory for all civic school students, violated fundamental rights and was malafide. The petition stated that students of civic-run schools belonged to different religions, castes and communities and therefore, making Surya Namaskar compulsory not only violated their fundamental rights, but the RTE Act, 2009, as well. Such a resolution was malafide, perverse, and bad in law, the petition read.

Advocate Anjali Awasthi, who appeared on behalf of the petitioner, argued that children who went to BMC schools were aged between six and 16 years, i.e. minors, and therefore, they should not be expected to perform 12 asanas of Surya Namaskar.

She argued that while Surya Namaskar should be ideally performed on an empty stomach, making it compulsory would entail children performing it after breakfast, which may have an adverse affect on their health.

Responding to advocate Awasthi’s submission, the bench said, “We will consider this issue at a later stage and will call for an expert’s report on whether Surya Namaskar can be performed by minors or not.”

The court posted the matter for hearing after two weeks and refused to give any interim stay on implementation of the BMC resolution.