Mumbai: HC gives 'conditional' nod for dandiya at JVPD ground

The Bombay high court on Wednesday directed the police to grant permission to an event management company for organising a dandiya event at JVPD Ground in Andheri.

The Bombay high court on Wednesday directed the police to grant permission to an event management company for organising a dandiya event at JVPD Ground in Andheri (West).

The DN Nagar police had earlier denied permission to Carnival Media Private Limited, primarily on the grounds that the venue falls in the silence zone, given that it’s located within 100 metres from two educational institutes in the locality.

The petitioner’s counsel, however, cited a Supreme Court ruling which held that areas in the vicinity of schools, colleges and other educational institutes can be termed as silence zones only during the working hours of the institutions and not thereafter.

This argument succeeded, with chief justice Mohit Shah and justice MS Sonak granting the event management company permission to organise the event.

While granting permission for the event, the court listed certain conditions such as abiding by noise pollution guidelines, traffic rules etc

In its application to the police filed on September 17, Carnival Media had sought to use loudspeakers at the venue.

The company, which has been organising Dandiya Raas and Garbha for a number of years, claimed that JVPD Ground was beyond 100 metres from any of the nearby educational institutions. In addition, one of those institutions – Ritumbara Vishwa Vidyalaya – had given a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for organising a dandiya event on the ground between 6pm and 10pm.

Carnival Media further contended that it has obtained the necessary NOCs from the other authorities and had already incurred an expenditure of Rs2.87 crore on setting up the venue including lighting, sound systems, advertisements etc.