Bombay High Court
MUMBAI: On Friday, the Bombay High Court allowed a Muharram procession in Mumbai on Sunday only one route, by truck from Bhendi Bazar to Mazgaon Cemetery. During the last 100 meters, five people can wear the Taziya – a replica of the Mausoleum of Imam Hussain – on foot in a procession, said a bench of judges SJ Kathawalla and Madhav Jamdar. The presence of a cameraman will also be allowed. The procession will be on Sunday from 4.30 to 5.30 p.m.
On Thursday, the HC bank had ordered the state household and disaster management departments to give an audience to representatives of All India Idaara Tahafuz-E-Hussainiyat to obtain permission to hold a Muharram procession this year with the appropriate restrictions. in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. and partial block still in force.
Habib Nasir, secretary of a large NGO that organizes the Moharrum processions, and had submitted a petition to the HC, promised to respect all the conditions and that there would be no more than four people to carry the Taziya and a video recorder.
The police will enforce an order from article 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to prevent the gathering of more than five in the area and will also provide an escort and a pilot car for the truck and ensure that traffic is not affected.
The state had denied them permission, said lead attorney Rajendra Shirodkar along with defenders Asif and Shehzad Naqvi, prompting them to approach the HC to intervene. “If limited permits were issued for Ganesh Chaturthi, refusing permits for Moharrum would be discriminatory,” the court had orally observed, while “Amitabh Gupta, Principal Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Kishor Raje Nimbalkar, Secretary of the Department of Disaster Management, They will listen to Arshad Kasim Mirza and Habib Nasir, president and general secretary respectively ” of the NGO.
The petition said that the permit would be granted on the basis of a conditional permit granted to Ganesh visarjans in artificial ponds.
The petition questioned the August 19 guidelines issued by the state to deny permission for mourning processions, alleging that it violated the right to equality.
On Friday, the HC also heard Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni with government attorney Purnima Kantharia and the order minutes were finalized, with both parties agreeing that it was an order “by way of exception and not intended to serve as an above, for others to ask permission to celebrate festivals that involve … congregation of people. ”
Advocate Shezad Naqvi said: “We are happy with the order. It allows us a symbolic representation of the 1400-year-old ritual and can be viewed live by community members because it will be broadcast live on various online platforms.”
Muharram is a month of the Islamic calendar that is marked by mourning for the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, who was the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and the third Imam of Shiite Muslims and has been practiced for 1400 years, ” Naqvi said.
.
