HC allows Ramleela at Dusshera ground

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday allowed the holding of Ramleela at the Dusshera Ground in Janakpuri for this year, saying religious sentiments of the people were attached to it.

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao granted interim relief to the Shri Ramleela Committee Janakpuri, noting that the Dusshera festival has been celebrated at the ground in the area for 35 years. Dusshera festival will be celebrated on October 19, 2018.

The division bench set aside the order of a single judge which had granted an interim stay on the booking of the Dusshera Ground in Janakpuri for Dusshera/ Ramleela/ Krishnaleela and other such programmes.

The single judge had on August 3 restrained the DDA from permitting activities like social, cultural, commercial, marriage or other functions in the district park (Dusshera Ground) till further orders, while responding to a plea of a west Delhi resident.

In the day's hearing, the division bench noted that the venue of the programme could not be changed overnight, and to shift it, there should be an alternative place having proper safety arrangements for accommodating a huge crowd.

The bench asked the petitioner, who initially moved the court seeking directions to the authorities to ensure that the park was not let out for commercial activities, to give details of alternative sites where the religious function could be held and the details of safety and security arrangements for holding the programme at a large scale.

Refusing to be party to any controversy, it asked who would be held responsible if the venue was shifted without considering all aspects and something bad happened.

The committee's plea that Ramleela be permitted to be held at the ground was supported by central government standing counsel Ajay Digpaul, who said people's religious sentiments were attached to the festival and it has been conducted there for last 35 years. He said the venue could not be shifted without any alternative arrangement.

A plea challenging the single judge's order, filed through advocate Sanjeev Nasiar, said banning Dusshera and Ramleela at the ground would not only hurt the religious sentiments of the people, but also violate the fundamental right to practice, profess and propagate one’s religion.

It said the DDA had the right to allow temporary use of its land for this purpose and its policy of allowing such use of its land was as per law.

"The single judge has not considered that the Dusshera Ground is an 'open space'/ 'multi-purpose ground' being used for religious programmes since 1983 as per policy and permission of DDA and it is not a district park as alleged by the petitioner in the petition," it said.