Several organisations in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai celebrated Janmashtami on Thursday while flouting the Supreme Court order on 'Dahi Handi' height and exclusion of minors
Video: SC order on 'Dahi Handi'? Who cares. Mumbai defies the law
Several organisations in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai celebrated Janmashtami on Thursday while flouting the Supreme Court order on 'Dahi Handi' height and participation of minors.
While some expressing their protest with black bands, others openly defied the court order by including children in the human pyramid and keeping the height of the dahi handi at over 20 feet.
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Several organisations violated the norms endorsed by the Supreme Court -- no more than 20 feet height and exclusion of minors.
A dahi handi group defies SC order excluding minors from the event
Mumbai Police spokesperson Ashok Dudhe said that the police were photographing and videographing the celebrations across the city.
"All those found flouting the Supreme Court norms shall be booked and prosecuted depending on the kind of violations," Dudhe warned, though police have not directly intervened to stop the celebrations.
Unmindful of police, one organisation in Perry Cross Road in Mumbai suburb of Bandra had a child at the top of the dahi handi pyramid. Luckily, it was videographed by a conscientious Mumbaikar.
HERE'S THE VIDEO:
In Thane, an organisation backed by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena hung the Dahi Handi at a height of 49 feet in an attempt to create a new world record.
One of the main organisers and MNS activist Avinash Jadhav said he was prepared "to go to jail" but would take orders only from his leader, Raj Thackeray, who has been critical of the restrictions.
Some other organisations also constructed pyramids that were more than four tiers or exceeding 20 feet and even used minor boys to break the Dahi Handi.
On Wednesday, a division bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Uday U. Lalit and Justice L. Nageswara Rao had upheld an earlier ruling of the Bombay High Court on the issue of height restrictions and participation of teenagers below 18 years in the Dahi Handi game.
The Bombay High Court orders of April 11, 2014, had come in response to a PIL petition filed by social activist Swati S. Patil's Utkarsh Mahila Samajik Sanstha, citing injuries of Govindas when human pyramids came crashing down.
(With Agency Inputs)
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