Madras HC: Nod needed from authorities to turn house into prayer hall

CHENNAI: Madras HC Monday clarified that a house cannot be converted into a prayer hall without obtaining necessary permission from the authorities.

The issue pertained to a police complaint against regular prayers being conducted from a house which prompted a pastor conducting this religious activity to move court.

Hearing the plea, Justice N Anand Venkatesh also rejected an undertaking given by petitioner, pastor L Joseph Wilson , that the house prayer would be conducted peacefully without using any loudspeakers. HC noted that merely not using a microphone and loudspeaker would not resolve the issue, and what was needed was proper permission from authorities.

Petitioner Wilson submitted that he had been running a trust, ' Word of God Ministries Trust ', established in 2007. He claimed the house, in Tiruvarur district , was purchased in 2023 and regular prayer meets have been held there ever since.

An inquiry by police revealed Wilson's application to build a church and a plan approval for same was rejected by Tiruvarur district collector.