New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Bombay high court’s decision banning youth below the age of 18 to participate in Dahi Handi ritual during Janmashtami celebrations and also restricting the height of the human pyramid to 20 feet.
A Bench of Justices Anil R. Dave and L. Nageswara Rao passed this order on an application from Maharashtra government seeking clarification of the order suspending the directions issued by the Bombay high court, in August 2014.
The Bench clarified that the other directions issued by the high court to the state government will remain in operation till it is modified by the apex court in the appeal which has been restored.
The PIL petitioner, Amit Jaising Saraiya prayed for directions to Maharashtra to prevent children below the age of 18 years from taking part in ‘Dahi Handi’, which is organised during celebrations on the occasion of birth of Lord Krishna. He also sought directions in respect of safety measures towards performance of ‘Dahi Handi’.
The high court disposed of the PIL on 11.8.2014 directing the state government to modify its circular and to increase the age of the performers from 12 years to 18 years; asking the state government to amend section 143 B of the Maharashtra Police Act in respect of dangerous performances and include ‘Dahi Handi’ as a dangerous performance; to fix the height of ‘Dahi Handi’ not more than 20 ft and further directed the state government to issue appropriate directions forthwith to ensure that the organisers of ‘Dahi Handi’ festival provide safety measures at the venue of the performance.
During the resumed hearing on Wednesday counsel for the petitioner reiterated that the conditions imposed by the HC should continue. He informed the court that in 2015 alone more than 1,000 persons below the age of 18 were injured and admitted in hospital and there were many casualties also.
Justice Rao quipped “We only know of Lord Krishna stealing butter, but not the acrobatics involved.” Justice Dave recalled how he had seen the Govindas climb on human pyramids up to nine stories tall without even a rope to arrest their fall.
When the Bench asked the ASG Tushar Mehta “Why did you not carry out any amendments or change the law? as directed by the HC, the ASG said “we need clarification on this issue. This cannot be classified as a dangerous performance for the purpose of earning money.”
