The Supreme Court had upheld an order of the division bench of the Madras High Court that had prohibited the sale of the idols of Lord Ganesha made of Plaster of Paris.

The bench of Chief Justices DY Chandrachud( CJI), Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra has told the petitioner that they could have used natural clay or other items that could have been immersed in water instead. The Chief Justice said, " the appellate order is interim in nature. What is the use of selling idols which cannot be immersed...You could have used natural clay etc. Sorry. Dismissed,"

The Court was hearing an appeal against an order passed on Sunday by which a division bench of the Madras High Court had stayed a single- judge order that had allowed the sale of Plaster of Paris( PoP) idols before the Ganesh Chaturthi.

Justice GR Swaminathan had observed that while the sale of Vinayala idols made of PoP cannot be restricted, but the immersion can be restricted. The single-judge had asked the shopkeepers to make a register o the names so that they could be inspected by the authorities.

The bench of Justices SS Sundar and Bharatha Chakravarthy had stayed the said order and relied on the guidelines of Central Pollution Control Board. The Bench had also rejected the contention that the idol sellers would face financial problems if the sale of PoP is restricted as there is only a day left before the festival.

The Senior Counsel appearing for an artisan had challenged the order and he pointed out that the facilities could be provided for immersion of idols in artificial waterbodies. The Court rejected his contention and the plea was dismissed.