The Bombay High Court today permitted Shiv Sena to hold Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park in Central Mumbai on the ground that the annual event is not a "political rally but a socio-cultural festival".
A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice M S Sanklecha also directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to grant permission to Shiv Sena to hold the rally on October 13.
Interestingly, the same bench had last year directed Shiv Sena to look for alternate ground in the future as Shivaji Park falls under silence zone.
The Dussehra Rally is one of most prestigious events for Shiv Sena since Bal Thackeray launched the party with a Dussehra Rally in 1966 from the venue.
For any function or rally to be held at Shivaji Park the party concerned has to approach the high court for permission. The area was declared silence zone on a PIL filed by NGO Wecom Trust.
Since 2010, Shiv Sena has been approaching the high court seeking permission to hold the event, which has been granted every year. However, the high court had last year observed that from 2013 onwards Shiv Sena would have to hold the annual event on another ground.
However, the party moved the high court again this year stating that though MMRDA ground in suburban Bandra was available to hold the rally, but it was not convenient due to poor accessibility for the party workers and supporters and the exorbitant fee of Rs 70 lakh.
While the NGO, Wecom Trust opposed the petition, both BMC and the state government said they had no objection to the rally as it has been a tradition going on since over 40 years.
Accepting the contentions of Shiv Sena, state government and BMC, the high court today said, "Since only four days are left for Dussehra, we permit BMC to grant Shiv Sena permission to organise the rally. We accept the contention that it is not a political rally but a socio cultural festival."
The court, however, clarified that the order granting permission does not exonerate Shiv Sena from finding another ground to hold its rally in the future.
