Kala Ghoda Festival events to be held at Cross Maidan

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Wednesday allowed cultural events to be held at Cross Maidan in South Mumbai as part of the Kala Ghoda Festival, albeit with a warning that the collector’s permission for such events should not be held as a precedent for the future. 

The court also directed that there should be no food stalls or any other commercial activities allowed at Cross Maidan. “The state government's decision of allowing such events is completely flawed and faulty. 

The collector's order of February 5 shall be followed this year. No food stalls or any other commercial activities shall be carried out,” the court ordered.

Although the Kala Ghoda Festival started on February 3, musical events were supposed to start the same day but a division bench of justice A.S. Oka and justice P.N. Deshmukh refused to grant permission to hold these events at Cross Maidan, saying that permission had been granted without application of the mind. 

Following this, the state government assured the court that it would pass an additional detailed order with reasons as to why it was allowing events to be held at the maidan.

The court said that it would decide the application seeking permission to hold events at Cross Maidan after a detailed order was passed. On Wednesday, the bench granted permission to hold events after it was informed about the detailed order. However, even while granting permission, the bench reprimanded the government for allowing such events in the past and this year as well at a public property free of cost and that too, without imposing any condition.