HC warns Dahi handi organiser of another contempt notice

Mumbai: The HC has warned of issuing another contempt proceeding against a Dahi handi organiser after he failed to respond to a previous contempt notice against him for violating the height norms for human pyramid set by the government. The court did not accept the affidavit filed by the organiser as he denied that he had committed any contempt but still apologised for the same.

A division bench of Justices R.M. Savant and S.S. Jadhav was hearing a contempt petition filed by Swati Patil against Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) in the year 2015 for flouting height norms during the Dahi handi festival.

The petition had pointed out that while the government had stipulated the height of the pyramid to be five meters, the group had kept the height of the Dahi handi to nine meters which was a clear violation of the norms and hence liable for contempt.

The court held Mr Pande as the contemnor and asked him to file a reply as to why a show cause notice should not be issued against him.

On Monday, Mr Pande filed an affidavit stating that he was not guilty of any violation but was still apologising for the same in light of the contempt petition. But since that the affidavit was not served to the state in the stipulated time, the court warned of issuing a second contempt notice and asked him to file a reply before July 17.