Does the freedom to practise religion protect a ritual that pollutes a water body?

No. No one has the right to pollute a water body even in the name of religion. Article 25 makes the freedom to practise religion subservient to public health, so believers may do what is spiritually beneficial to them provided it has no adverse implication for ecology and does not violate the rights of other members of society. The right to enjoy pollution-free water is itself a fundamental right under Article 21, and citizens owe a fundamental duty under Article 51A(g) to protect and improve the natural environment.

Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 — s.24 — Tamil Nadu Public Health Act, 1939 — s.36 — Constitution of India — Art.21 — Art.25 — Art.51A(g) — River as a juristic person — Encroachment on a river bank — Encroachment — River bank — Bank not to be divorced from the river — Held: The bank of a river cannot be divorced from the river proper and must be maintained free of any encroachment; no title can be claimed over what is in truth an ancient monument standing on it. (¶3) Constitution of India — Art.25 — Art.21 — Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 — s.24 — Pollution in the name of religion — Held further: No one has the right to pollute a water body even in the name of religion; the freedom to practise religion is subservient to public health, and regulating rituals on a river bank breaches no fundamental right. (¶6, ¶8) River as a juristic person — Personhood as a deity — Right not to be polluted — Held further: Personhood is conferred on the river not because it is a river but because She is worshipped as a deity, and only for the limited purpose of the right not to be polluted; no other right or liability springs from it. (¶13, ¶15) Directions — Continuing mandamus — Immersion of ashes permitted — Held further: Dumping of clothes and articles in the river stands banned as a continuing mandamus, while immersion of ashes is permitted in unfired earthen pots alone. Petition disposed of. (¶21, ¶23)

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