Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Friday directed the Brih-anmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to grant permission for the upcoming Mumbai Marathon if the organisers are ready to pay Rs 1.05 crore — Rs 79 lakh towards the rent of the land and Rs 26 lakh as security deposit — by Monday. The court also directed the BMC to consider the request of organisers to set up stalls to serve water and energy drinks for participants. The court also directed the BMC to submit the copies of resolutions it had passed for granting permission, charging fees etc. for the event.
A division bench comprising Justices Abhay Oka and A.A. Sayyad was hearing a petition filed by the Procam International Ltd, in which the company had alleged that the civic body is charging high rates for the event. The company also sought direction that the BMC does not withhold any permission citing the pending dues until the conclusion of the plea. The petitioners have sought permission from the BMC to hold the day-long event and put up advertisements and hoardings across the city from January 15-21.
The petitioner argued, “We want permission for seven days and the BMC is charging us for the entire month. We are merely trying to organise sports events for the public but the BMC is saying that it has a share in our revenues,” the petitioner argued.
Procam claimed that while it had paid about Rs 26 lakh to the BMC for a similar event last year, this year, the civic body asked it to pay Rs 3.66 crore towards the “land fees, displaying advertisements and hoardings, and security deposit.”
BMC counsel Ram Apte argued that it was a routine practice for the civic body to charge for the entire month, irrespective of the duration of such events. “It is like the railway pass issued to the commuters of the suburban rail network in the city. Even if one travels for just 10 days a month, the pass charges one for a minimum duration of an entire month. He claimed, “This is not only a sports event, it is a full fledged commercial activity.”
