New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday pulled up social activist Swami Agnivesh for hurting the religious sentiments of people by describing as "pakhand", or hypocrisy, the annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine.
The apex court bench of Justice HL Dattu and Justice CK Prasad told Agnivesh that he should weigh his words "many a time before uttering them lest it hurts the sentiments of the people".
The court said people in public life should exercise caution before making statements. It said this while reading a petition by Agnivesh seeking quashing of an FIR filed in Hansi district of Haryana in the wake of his statement earlier this year.
Hundreds of thousands of people undertake the pilgrimage to the cave shrine of Amarnath in Jammu and Kashmir every year that houses an ice stalagmite formation that devotees believe symbolises Lord Shiva.
IANS
