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Mumbai: The Bombay high court vacation bench on Tuesday quashed a notice issued by the police to halt the annual Mahim fair on Dec 24 and 25, citing traffic congestion and overcrowding in the area as people will also throng the nearby Mahim Church for Christmas celebrations on these two days.
Petitioner Zahid Khamisa, an amusement ride operator at the Mahim mela, through his advocate Prasanna Bhangale, contended before the vacation bench of Justices Shivkumar Dige and Advait Sethna that the Mahim mela, which has been in existence for a century, has never been a hindrance, nor were there any complaints so far as a “precondition” for the police to stop the fair.
The HC said “such melas form a part of the social fabric in which the people of all the sections participate. Their participation and enjoyment cannot be deprived by such sudden/abrupt notice as it is being celebrated since more than 100 years”.
The high court added that if traffic congestion is an issue, additional staff should be deployed by the police, and it couldn’t be a condition to cancel the Mahim fair when all permissions were in place.
Noting that a large number of people gather at Mahim Church on Dec 24 and 25, the HC, in its order, said the apprehension of traffic trouble cannot be a ground to cancel permission as police have a duty to manage traffic congestion.
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