8 months ago
3
The Supreme Court connected Wednesday (September 24, 2025) agreed to perceive urgently a situation to an Allahabad High Court bid barring Ramlila celebrations astatine a schoolhouse crushed successful Uttar Pradesh, bringing sharply into absorption the question whether “secular” schoolhouse playgrounds tin big spiritual oregon ceremonial activities.
A three-Judge Bench headed by Justice Surya Kant listed the lawsuit for September 25 aft a lawyer made an oral mentioning against the ex parte enactment bid passed by the High Court.
The High Court, according to the counsel, appearing for petitioner, the Coordinator of Shree Nagar Ram Lila Mahotsav, had concluded successful a September 22 bid that the Ramlila festivities would “interfere” with the schoolhouse activities. The enactment was based connected a nationalist involvement petition and affected the ongoing preparations for the festivities.
The High Court bid recorded that a “huge stage” was constructed connected the schoolhouse crushed and interlocking tiles enactment in. The bid records an lawsuit erstwhile the High Court Bench asked the State authorities “whether immoderate sports activities tin instrumentality spot present astatine the play ground, the reply evidently was ‘No’”. The Court had recovered the diversion of the schoolhouse crushed to festival spot “ex-facie illegal”.
On the different hand, the counsel for the lawsuit organisers, submitted successful the Supreme Court that the High Court’s frost bid was passed adjacent without affording the Ramlila organisers an accidental for a hearing.
The proceeding comes astir 7 years aft a Division Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Rohinton F. Nariman (now retired), successful July 2018, referred a akin question of instrumentality to a Constitution Bench for an authoritative pronouncement successful Jyoti Jagran Mandal versus NDMC. This was regarding an entreaty against a National Green Tribunal (NGT) bid refusing support to behaviour a spiritual event, Mata-ki-Chowki, successful a nationalist parkland successful the nationalist capital. The appellant had argued that argumentation allowed Ramlila and Durga puja to beryllium held successful nationalist parks.
The Bench had recovered that the entreaty raised a question of “great law value arsenic to whether specified activities tin beryllium allowed successful State-owned premises successful presumption of our Constitution being secular successful nature”. The contented requires a equilibrium to beryllium struck betwixt the close to acquisition of children, a cardinal close established nether Article 21A of the Constitution, and the state to observe spiritual practices nether Article 25.
The Supreme Court had successful the past reminded State authorities that close to acquisition was besides portion of the Directive Principles of State Policy and “compulsory and superior acquisition is treated arsenic a portion of Article 21 [right to life] of the Constitution, which has consequently led to the enactment of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2010”.
Various High Courts person dealt with the question whether disposable spaces, including playgrounds and nationalist spaces similar parks, could beryllium utilized for spiritual events oregon not.
A 2023 determination of the Calcutta High Court had concluded that a schoolhouse playground, adjacent of a authorities institution, could by “no agelong of imagination” beryllium utilized to clasp festivals.
In Sudarsan Mandal versus The State Of West Bengal, the High Court had held that a schoolhouse premises cannot beryllium designated arsenic a “public ground” for the intent of holding festivals.
“Even if a schoolhouse playground belongs to a government-aided school, the aforesaid ipso facto does not person the playground of the school, which is an acquisition institution, to a public, free-for-all country wherever immoderate and everybody tin question to organise immoderate festival whatsoever,” the Calcutta High Court had observed.
The Allahabad High Court itself had, successful Bajrangpuri Ram Leela Committee vs State Of Uttar Pradesh of 2019, had frowned upon the usage of “public spaces”, including parks and playgrounds, for performing spiritual activities.
“No idiosyncratic oregon radical oregon people of persons having religion successful immoderate religion oregon spiritual denomination, whether beryllium to bulk assemblage oregon number community, tin assertion a close to artifact nationalist spot truthful arsenic to forestall its utilization to nationalist astatine large, adjacent for a shorter period, arsenic it amounts to impermanent encroachment which is amerciable and cannot beryllium permitted to immoderate community, whether belongs to bulk assemblage oregon number community. It is the work of the competent authorization to guarantee that nary specified enactment is undertaken and nationalist places are maintained unobstructed, un-encroached, unoccupied and escaped from specified activities, which restricts communal persons from exercising his/her wide close of usage of nationalist places, without immoderate hindrance,” the Allahabad High Court had ordered.
