The Bombay high court on Thursday quashed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) order revoking permission granted earlier to an organisation headed by a former corporator of the Nationalist Congress Party to conduct Chhath Puja at a suburban ground.
The HC also quashed another BMC order granting permission to another group to hold the puja at the same venue after it submitted an application seeking nod along with a letter from a former corporator of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
A vacation bench of Justices N J Jamadar and Gauri Godse said there was "malice" on the part of the BMC in granting permission to one group and revoking nod given earlier to the other group.
Chhath Puja is to be held on October 30 and 31 on a ground in suburban Ghatkopar.
The court quashed the BMC's order by which it had revoked permission granted to NCP's former corporator Rakhee Jadhav's organisation Shri Durga Parmeshwari Seva Mandal to hold the Chhath festival at Acharya Atre Maidan in Ghatkopar.
The corporation cancelled permission granted to the mandal and gave a nod to Atal Samajik Sanskruti Seva Pratisthan whose name was recommended by former corporator Bhalchandra Shirsat of the BJP.
Rakhee Jadhav approached the HC through her mandal against the BMC order.
The high court set aside both these orders and directed local police station to take a decision on grant of no-objection certificate (NOC) to the petitioner mandal.
According to the petition, the mandal had sought permission in August this year for holding three functions -- Ganpati visarjan, Navratri and Chhath Puja. Permission was granted in August itself for holding all the three functions.
The corporation, while revoking the permission later, claimed the mandal had not submitted the requisite NOCs from police, fire and traffic departments. It said the other group had all the NOCs and hence permission was granted to it.
The HC, however, questioned the timing of the revocation of nod and asked the BMC why the permission was not revoked during the Ganpati or Navratri festivals when the mandal did not have the NOCs even then.
"You (BMC) should have cancelled immediately. They violated for Ganpati, but you let them hold Navratri as well. Why did you let them hold Navratri? Now you cancelled before Chhath Puja?" the bench asked.
The petition further claimed the mandal was not issued any notice prior to the BMC's decision of revocation.
Advocate Amogh Singh, appearing for the Atal Samajik Sanskruti Seva Pratisthan, said the BMC has the power to cancel permission.
"Just because the mandal held two functions illegally, should they be allowed to continue holding it? They are saying it is political but the Pratisthan's application was attached to the letter of the (former) BJP corporator," Singh said.
