Two separate petitions filed in the Bombay high court — one by a Pune-based couple and the other by an officer of Bhiwandi Municipal Corporation — seek the option of taking oath in the name of the Constitution rather than in the name of God for persons who are atheists or non-believers. Both petitions aim to change existing procedure which is based on the Oath Act of 1969, where a witness or person who deposes in court has to either verbally take an oath to speak the truth in the name of God or agree to speak the truth by placing his/her hand on a religious book.
In their petition, Pune-based couple, Sunil Mane and his wife Laxmikanta, cited cases that came up for hearing in the Bhiwandi magistrate court and Pune district court where senior government officials told the court that they did not believe in God and hence, wanted to take the oath in the name of the Constitution. However, they were not allowed to do so. The couple, in their petition, claimed that the Oath Act of 1969 violated provisions of Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution and should hence be declared as void.
The petition prayed that the court issue directions to the Union and state governments to allow persons to take oath in the name of the Indian Constitution if they were not willing to take oath as laid down by the Act i.e. take the name of a God or place their hand on a religious book.
“People who don’t believe in God, but have full faith in the Indian Constitution are facing denial during judicial proceedings at various levels in Maharashtra when they request that they be administered the oath in the name of the Indian Constitution,” said the PIL, exhorting the court to make the oath system suitable to democracy and in accordance with the spirit of the Indian Constitution.
The other petition filed by an officer of Bhiwandi Municipal Corporation made a similar plea. Both petitions are slated to come up for hearing in due course, said high court sources.
Advocate Asim Sarode, through whom the PIL has been filed said, People, who are non-believers in God, are not allowed to swear in the name of “the Indian Constitution or place hands on the rule book”. He added that a person of any religion would not object to taking oath in the name of the Constitution as it was his or her duty to abide by the Constitution.
“This will help avoid flaring of communal thoughts and feelings, and it will also not create problems for people who are atheists,” said advocate Sarode.
