The Bombay High Court has granted permission to Prabhu Yeshu Janmotsav, a public charitable trust, to organise a Christmas Music Festival at Girgaon Chowpatty in south Mumbai on December 10 in a much larger area.
In 2018, the High Court, concerned about sand erosion at Chowpatty, ruled that only specific public functions, including Krishnaleela, Ramleela, Ganesh immersion, and the Christmas festival, would be permitted. The court had specified a restricted area of 4,180 square meters at Chowpatty for these functions.
However, the organisers of Prabhu Yeshu Janmotsav, not party to the 2018 litigation, approached the court, arguing that they needed a larger area of about 15,000 square meters for their event. As a review was pending, they sought interim permission for the expanded beachfront.
During Tuesday’s hearing, the bench of Justices AS Gadkari and Shyam Chhaganlal Chandak noted that in previous years, the organisers had been allowed to use a much larger area.
Justice Gadkari expressed confusion over the opposition from the corporation, stating, “What is the difficulty in following the same order? Earlier, on two occasions, it has been done. We find it difficult to understand the opposition from the corporation. Just to oppose it, it is being opposed.”
Advocate Milind Sathe, representing the Collector and the civic authority, raised concerns about issues such as the organisers not obtaining No Objection Certificates from the fire brigade and not cleaning up the beach area after previous functions.
Advocates Mihir Desai, Jatin Sheth, and Ankur Shah, representing the petitioners, assured the court, saying, “We will obtain all necessary permissions, and we will clean up as well.” They requested the court to direct the authorities to expedite the permission process. The bench stated that it would issue a detailed order by Wednesday evening.
Published By:
ramesh sharma
Published On:
Dec 5, 2023
