The Madras High Court in an interim order halted the construction of a church near a Mariamman Temple dating back over 100 years in Coimbatore, observing that “mala fide intentions cannot be ruled out” if a large church is proposed in the vicinity of the temple.

A division bench of Justices GR Swaminathan and V Lakshminarayanan passed the order while hearing a petition filed by a man who challenged official decisions relating to the proposed construction by the Church of South India near the temple in Kalapatti.

The court noted that the Mariamman Temple had existed for over a century and that the proposed church would be located “a stone’s throw away”.

The bench also described Coimbatore as “a communally sensitive city”, stating that it has “witnessed bomb blasts and bloody religious riots”.

Referring to submissions made before it, the bench recorded that there were about 1,000 families in the area, of whom around 950 were Hindus, 15 were Muslims and only a few were Christians.

“When Hindus constitute an overwhelming majority and they vigorously oppose the construction of a church in the immediate vicinity of the temple, then, the authority must not casually brush the objection aside,” the bench said.

The court, however, said that its remarks should not be construed to mean...

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