Dahi handi pyramids can’t have those below 18 years, rules SC

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court said on Wednesday that children below 18 years of age cannot participate in the upcoming dahi handi festival in Maharashtra.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court said on Wednesday that children below 18 years of age cannot participate in the upcoming dahi handi festival in Maharashtra.

HT Image

The Apex Court stated it was dangerous to allow small children to participate in such feats in its response to a clarification sought by the Maharashtra government over the August 2014 verdict that also limited the height of such pyramids to 20 feet. “We know of Lord Krishna stealing butter, but never heard of him performing antics to steal it,” said the SC.

The Supreme Court had initially suspended the order when the government challenged the ruling, but later dismissed the petition, leaving the status of the order unclear.

Based on a public interest litigation (PIL), the Bombay high court had on August 11, 2014, ruled that children below 18 years of age should not participate in forming the human pyramid. After another plea claimed that human pyramid formations were not adhering to the ruling, the Bombay HC pulled up the Maharashtra government for not seeking a clarification from the Apex Court. MUMBAI: Expressing dismay over Supreme Court’s verdict on the height restrictions of human pyramids, Mumbai’s dahi handi mandals have threatened to discontinue the event, saying the order has taken the sheen off festivities.

The Bombay high court on Wednesday upheld the Mumbai high court’s order restricting the height of human pyramids and banning children under 18 from participating in the events of the August 25 festival.

The height of human pyramids has been restricted to 20 feet. According to mandals, the restriction will limit the number of tiers in the human pyramid to four. In Mumbai, big events hosted by politicians see seven or more tiers.

Mumbra-Kalwa Nationalist Congress Party MLA, Jitendra Awhad, who organises the ‘Sangharsh Dahi Handi Festival’ in Thane, expressed anger over the verdict. “This is unfortunate. We will discontinue our dahi handi activity completely,” he said.

“Now we will have to decide whether to continue the activity. It was a means of entertainment and keeping tradition alive,” said Prakash Surve, Shiv Sena MLA from Magathane, north Mumbai.

Surve heads Taramati Charitable Foundation, which conducts major dahi handi activities in Borivli.

“This was a good chance for kids to engage in extra-curricular activities,” added Surve.

“The court has done the right thing. People won’t get injured anymore.,” said Swati Patil, secretary of Utkarsh Mahila Samajik Sanstha, a Chembur-based NGO which had filed a contempt petition in the Bombay high court seeking an age limit for participating children and height limit for the human pyramids. “We will ask the police to keep a watch to ensure security and to make sure the rules and guidelines are followed by the Dahi Handi groups as well as their participants,” she added.

“It is not a ban on the festival, but the competition. It is a festival and people will celebrate. Some people will express dismay for a while, but they will be alright. The festival won’t stop,” she said.