Bombay High Court opines celebration of all festivals on roads should be stopped

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court today slammed organisations and persons putting up pandals on public roads during Ganesh Utsavs, Navratri and other festivals and said "these pandals are just extorting money."

"In principle we are against all this. We are of the opinion that Ganesh Utsavs, Navratri and other festivals that are celebrated in open spaces of the city should be stopped. Who is benefiting? These pandals are just extorting money," a division bench of Justices V M Kanade and Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi said.

The remarks were made by the court while hearing two petitions. One had been filed by International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) seeking permission to hold their annual Jagannath Rath Yatra and the second on the issue of use of loudspeakers during festivals.

"Is it impossible to have these festivals without loudspeakers? We are against this. Already there are so few open spaces left in this city," the court said.

The bench has posted both the petitions for further hearing after two weeks.