"State facilitation of religious pilgrimages raises secularism and minority-rights concerns"
Secularism (Indian model)
principled equidistance from all religions, not strict separation of state and church
Basic Structure doctrine
certain constitutional features (including secularism) cannot be abrogated even by constitutional amendment
The Indian Constitution establishes a distinctive form of secularism — not the strict separation of church and state found in some Western models, but a principled equidistance from all religions. Article 25 guarantees freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practise, and propagate religion, subject to public order, morality, and health. Article 26 protects the right of religious denominations to manage their own affairs. Crucially, Article 15 prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth, and Article 14 guarantees equality before the law. Together, these provisions create a constitutional framework in which the state may neither privilege one religion over another nor use religious identity as a basis for differential treatment of citizens.
The Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed that secularism is part of the Basic Structure of the Constitution, most authoritatively in S.R. Bommai v. Union of India (1994), where the Court held that a state government acting against the secular character of the Constitution is liable to be dismissed under Article 356. The Court has also held, in a line of cases, that the state may regulate the secular aspects of religious practice — traffic management, public health, crowd control — but may not endorse, promote, or impose the religious content of any faith. This distinction between regulation and endorsement is constitutionally critical.
State governments have historically facilitated large religious gatherings — the Kumbh Mela, the Haj pilgrimage (through the now-restructured Haj Committee framework), Christmas and Eid public arrangements — on the rationale that crowd management and public safety are legitimate secular functions. The constitutional line is crossed when facilitation becomes preferential endorsement, or when the state uses a religious event as a vehicle to impose restrictions that target citizens of another faith.
The constitutional doctrine of secularism in India rests on several interlocking pillars. First, the state has no religion — Article 28 prohibits religious instruction in state-funded institutions, and the Union of India as a legal entity is constitutionally religion-neutral. Second, the state must treat all religions with equal respect and equal distance — a formulation the Supreme Court has preferred over strict separation. Third, any state action that has the effect of discriminating on religious grounds, even if facially neutral, is constitutionally suspect under Article 14 and Article 15.
The doctrine of indirect discrimination is particularly relevant here. When a state government orders that food vendors along a pilgrimage route display the proprietor's name — without any stated food-safety or hygiene rationale — the order's practical effect is to enable consumers to identify and avoid vendors from a particular religious community. Courts have held that facially neutral laws with a discriminatory purpose or effect can violate Article 15(1). …
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Which of the following statements about Indian secularism is/are correct?
1.The Indian Constitution prohibits the state from facilitating any religious gathering or pilgrimage under any circumstances.
2.Secularism has been held to be part of the Basic Structure of the Constitution by the Supreme Court.
3.Article 28 prohibits religious instruction in educational institutions wholly maintained out of state funds.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Consider the following actions by state governments along a religious pilgrimage route. Which of the following would be MOST constitutionally vulnerable under Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution?
1.Deploying additional police personnel for crowd management.
2.Issuing orders mandating that all food vendors display the proprietor's name without any food-safety rationale.
3.Providing temporary medical camps along the route.
4.Restricting vehicular traffic on certain roads during peak pilgrimage hours.
With reference to the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968, which of the following statements is correct?
Assertion (A): The Union of India, as a constitutional entity, has no religion.
Reason (R): Article 25 of the Constitution guarantees freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practise, and propagate religion to all citizens.
Which of the following is correct?
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