The High Court has asked the Delhi government to decide henceforth all applications for organising Ramlila by various organisers on first come, first served basis.
“The respondent/PWD is directed to consider such applications hereinafter on first come, first served basis, subject to compliance with other terms and conditions,” ordered Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva.
The court gave the order while hearing a petition by Navyuvak Uttarakhand Ramlila Samiti and others seeking permission to organise Ramlila at Shri Ram Park, Gulabi Bagh, and quashing of the permission granted by the PWD to another organiser.
The petitioner told the court that it had applied for permission to PWD on July 25, 2016, while the party which has been given permission had applied on July 27, as revealed from an RTI response.
It was contended that according to the policy of the PWD, the person who had applied first should have been granted permission, but in contravention of the same, the agency granted permission to the other party.
It also claimed that it has been holding Ramlila celebrations at Shri Ram Park for past several years.
The court perused the PWD file and found no reasoning or rational for the other party to be chosen over the application of the petitioner.
The court held that “the PWD in absence of any rules should have followed the first come, first served rule” but did not grant the relief considering that the other party which was granted permission to organise Ramlila had obtained all clearances and all its staff/ artistes were also working for the event.
Court tells PWD to follow first come, first served rule, quashes permission granted to another organiser
