SC permits Jharkhand to cut power supply during Ram Navami processions to avoid electrocution

The Supreme Court on Friday permitted the Jharkhand government and its power distribution company to cut power supply on Ram Navami procession routes to avoid electrocution incidents. The top court modified the Jharkhand High Court direction that barred the state authorities from cutting power supply during religious processions.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and KV Viswanathan took note of the submissions of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the JMM-led state government, that this practice was going on for over two decades to avoid electrocution incidents.

He said that people in such processions usually carry long flags and it may lead to unfortunate incidents of electrocutions in the state.


The bench, however, asks the Jharkhand government to keep the power cuts to minimum level and confined to procession routes.

It asked the state government to ensure supply to hospitals during the planned power cuts.

It also asked the chief of the Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (JBVNL) to file an undertaking in the high court that it will keep the power cuts for a minimum period and the emergency supply to hospitals will be maintained.

Ram Navami, which marks the birth anniversary of Lord Rama, is on April 6.