The HC dismissed a PIL challenging permission for Durga Puja and Navratri celebrations in a municipality ground at Borivali (west). The petitioner had alleged that the organisers were using the ground for commercial purposes. A division bench of Justice S.C. Dharmadhikari and Justice Gautam Patel was hearing the petition challenging BMC’s permission to Congress corporator Shiva Shetty for suburban Borivali’s Kora Kendra grounds. The petitioner, Navin Chomal, alleged in his petition that the civic body had flouted its own circular which mandated that only one-third of a ground is to be given for cultural functions or programmes, while the rest is to be left for children to play. The PIL had alleged that organisers had used the ground for commercial activities, since entry to public is not free during the Navrati programme. It said that passes were sold for a price or given to those who purchased goods from the show’s sponsors. The BMC, however, argued that its impugned circular pertained only to playgrounds and not recreational grounds. As Kora Kendra was a recreational ground, the one-third-space condition wouldn’t apply.
