In a significant judgment upholding civil liberties and the right to practice religion, the Chhattisgarh High Court has ruled that individuals do not require prior permission from authorities to organize religious prayer meetings within their private residences, provided no laws are breached.
Justice Naresh Kumar Chandravanshi, presiding over a single bench, passed the order while quashing police notices issued to two residents of Godhna village in the Janjgir-Champa district. The court further directed authorities to refrain from interfering with the petitioners’ civil rights or harassing them under the “guise of enquiry.”
The case involved two relatives from Godhna village, under the jurisdiction of the Nawagarh police station. Since 2016, the petitioners had been conducting Christian prayer meetings in a hall located on the first floor of their residence.
The petitioners moved the High Court after local police began issuing notices under Section 94 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023. These notices, dated October 18, 2025, November 22, 2025, and February 1, 2026, sought to prevent them from holding the gatherings.
The petitioners argued that the meetings were peaceful and did not involve any unlawful activity. They also noted that while the Gram Panchayat of Godhna had initially issued a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) for the gatherings, it was later withdrawn under external pressure.
The state, represented by Deputy Government Advocate Shobhit Mishra, opposed the petition. The counsel argued that the petitioners had not obtained the necessary prior permission from competent authorities to organize such large gatherings.
Furthermore, the state pointed out that criminal cases had been registered against the petitioners in the past, and they had previously served time in jail, which prompted the police to issue the restrictive notices to maintain order.
After hearing both sides, Justice Chandravanshi emphasized that the law does not restrict religious gatherings within a person’s dwelling.
“The petitioners are registered owner of said lands where they used to organize ‘Prayer Meeting’ of the followers of Christianity since 2016. There is no such law restraining any persons to organize prayer/prayer meeting in their dwelling house,” the Court observed.
The High Court clarified that as long as the meetings are conducted within the bounds of the law, the state cannot mandate prior approval. “Further, there is no need to get prior permission from any authority for conducting prayer/prayer meeting if the same is organized without violating any law,” the judgment stated.
However, the Court clarified that this is not an absolute immunity from regulation. It maintained that if a gathering causes a nuisance—such as noise pollution—or creates a law-and-order situation, authorities remain empowered to take necessary action under the relevant provisions of the law.
Concluding the matter, the Court quashed the police notices and ordered the respondents to stop interfering with the petitioners’ rights.
