Bombay HC Directs BMC Chief to Settle Bhandup West Dahi Handi Dispute
The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation commissioner to resolve a dispute between two political groups competing to host Dahi Handi celebrations at Ashok Kedare Chowk in Bhandup West on September 5.
The directive was issued during the hearing of a petition filed by Shiv Sena leader Sandip Jalgaonkar. Jalgaonkar approached the court claiming that he has been organising the annual Dahi Handi Utsav at the Ashok Kedare Chowk location for several years. However, a rival applicant also submitted a request to civic authorities seeking permission to stage celebrations at the exact same spot.
While hearing the plea, the bench noted that there is no restriction on issuing multiple permissions for Dahi Handi events, but stressed that "on a particular spot there cannot be two handis." The court took exception to the civic administration failing to resolve the conflicting requests on its own and instead forwarding them to local law enforcement for inputs.
The judges criticised the BMC for sending the competing applications to the Bhandup police for recommendations. The police had advised that preference could be awarded to the party that had previously organised the festival at the venue. The bench rejected this reasoning, stating, "We find police has no business to make such comment." The court added that the principle of granting permission solely because an applicant conducted the event in earlier years "cannot be made applicable," noting that the police should have left the decision entirely to the civic body.
"Corporation should have shouldered the responsibility," the bench remarked, questioning why the civic body had not decided the competing applications. In addition to resolving the dispute, the court instructed the municipal commissioner to seek an explanation from civic officials regarding why the applications were not decided and why the matter was referred to the police.
Under the court's order, the municipal commissioner will convene a hearing at her office at 11 am on Friday. Each side has been permitted to send only two representatives to the meeting, with the court strictly prohibiting any gathering of supporters at the office. Both parties will be allotted 15 minutes each to present their arguments, after which the commissioner will take an appropriate decision that will be final. The petition was subsequently disposed of.
Competing claims over the Ashok Kedare Chowk venue have arisen in the past. Last year, the Bombay High Court refused permission to both the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena to hold Dahi Handi celebrations at the same chowk after police cited potential law-and-order concerns.
