SC sends Dahi Handi back to Bombay High Court

With the auspicious Janmashtami barely two weeks away, the legal battle over the Dahi Handi ritual is back in focus. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court asked the Bombay High Court to hear on August 7 the Maharashtra government’s plea for relaxation in Dahi Handi rules.

The Maharashtra government came to the apex court with an affidavit on the security arrangements it had made to plead with it to review its last year’'s ruling endorsing the Bombay High Court’s 2014 order on capping of the height of the human pyramid and barring minors’ participation in the ritual.

A Bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and R. Banumathi asked the High Court to consider the matter afresh in the light of material furnished by the state government, several NGOs and individuals.

The state government told the apex court that several security measures will ensure security of the 'Govindas and hence there was no need to stop participation of boys below 18 years of age.

On August 17 last year, the Supreme Court refused to relax conditions put forth by the Bombay High Court like barring youths below 18 years of age from participating in 'Dahi Handi festival and capping the height of the human pyramid at 20 feet.

It had also rejected a Mumbai-based organisation’s plea not to set any height limits. The court refused to relax the rules even when told that the highest human pyramid at 43.79 feet had found a place in the Guinness Book of World Records and a ceiling on the height will not allow anybody to break this record.