Supreme Court refuses to increase height of Dahi Handi

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused the plea for increasing the height of “Dahi Handi” during the Janmashtami festival in Maharashtra over and above 20 feet.

A bench of Justices Anil R. Dave, Uday Lalit and L. Nageswara Rao told counsel for the applicant and additional solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, for Maharashtra, “Are you getting an Olympic medal for this Then we will be happy.”

The counsel for the petitioner pleaded for relaxing the height restriction, saying the sport is famous and had earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The applicant, Jai Jawan Krida Mandal Govinda Pathak, from Mumbai, submitted that since youth below 18 years of age are not allowed to participate in the ritual, the height cap should then be increased. The organisation said that adventure is a part of every sport.

The ASG supported the petitioner and said “height is the charm of the game and courts can consider increasing the height to 25 feet from 20 feet”. The bench, which had said last week that children below 18 years can’t participate, however, declined to entertain the fresh application for relaxation.

The high court had disposed of the PIL on 11.8.2014, directing the state government to modify its circular and to increase the age of the performers from 12 years to 18 years, asking the state government to amend Section 143B of the Maharashtra Police Act in respect of dangerous performances and include Dahi Handi as a dangerous performance.