A public interest litigation (PIL) that asked the authorities to stop the commercial use of the Late Pramod Mahajan Sports Complex for musical events, including one featuring singer Falguni Pathak, scheduled to take place from September 26 to October 5, was dismissed by the Bombay High Court on Friday.
Following the procedures outlined under Section 37A of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, a bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Madhav Jamdar noted that the playground had been assigned to one Sai Ganesh Welfare Association for Navratri celebrations.
In spite of any other legislation or order in effect, this Section enables the State to allocate playgrounds for events like Independence Day or religious gatherings.
The petitioner failed to demonstrate how this clause was broken or how any action done in violation of the law called for court involvement, the court noted. It stated that the festival and religious event for which the property was being allocated were “dear to the people of this region.”
“They claim to have given approvals in accordance with the law. You must dispute any apparent violations of the Constitution, even if they seem minor. We are unable to step in without a challenge. Article 14 of the Constitution prohibits the use of such authority or competence. In our judgement, the PIL does not merit consideration and smells of dubious justification. However, interdicting at this late stage may seem severe at this point, the Bench said in dismissing the plea.
According to the petition submitted by activist Vinayak Sanap through attorney Mayur Faria, the area was designated as a playground in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s Development Plan (BMC).
According to Sanap, the sports complex field shall always be accessible to the general public and should not be used for any third party’s commercial gain.
The Court objected to the fact that Sai Ganesh Welfare Association was not added as a party, stating that if they are not heard before any orders are made, it will cause them great harm.
Senior Attorney MP Vashi, speaking on behalf of the Association, emphasised that the plans for the event have been formed and that the petitioner has not made any particular complaints against other similarly planned events throughout the Mumbai city.
The Court was informed during the hearing that the petitioner had contacted the High Court in 2018. The PIL was dismissed, giving the petitioner freedom to submit a new plea with the necessary data.
The Court stated, “Chief Justice Nandrajog was correct; your pleadings were deficient, and you have again presented a deficient petition.”
It was also noted that the petitioner did not file a case with the High Court the following year in 2019.
“Now that you’ve awoken from your sleep, please come. Why didn’t you visit in 2019? You are not allowed to pick a time to appear in court. You presented a shoddy petition and a valid cause of action before being granted freedom. Once more, you had a reason to act, but you chose not to. The Bench stated, “As a petitioner, you also did not conduct thorough investigation before to filing the petition.
At this point, the Court questioned why the petitioners had not raised the issue of Section 37A’s violations.
“If you contest this clause, we’ll invalidate it. This is what? Who or what are we? And for the past 25 years, this has been a part of the law. This would have the result that this playground could not be used for any other activity ten days after this court issues an injunction, according to CJ Datta.
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