Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday sought to know from the state government whether the organisers of a religious event had obtained permission from the competent authority before blocking the entire Gandhinagar main road.
A division bench comprising Justice Subodh Abhyankar and Justice Jai Kumar Pillai directed the state government counsel to apprise the court in this regard. The court scheduled the next hearing for Wednesday.
According to information, a large 'pandal' has been erected on the road, with an idol of Goddess Durga installed inside it for Navratri celebrations.
Ashish Jain, a resident of Gandhinagar, filed a petition through his counsel, Charchit Shastri, stating that the 50-foot-long 'pandal' had been erected in a manner that blocked the entire Gandhinagar main road. The petitioner contended that the blockade had cut off around 2,000 residents of a nearby locality from other areas.
Shastri said the petitioners were not opposed to the installation of the 'pandal' for worship but objected to the complete closure of the road. We have requested the court to direct the organisers to leave eight feet of space on both sides of the road to allow traffic movement, he said.
Shastri added that the judges were surprised to learn that the 'pandal' had been erected in such a way that the entire road was blocked.
After hearing both sides, the High Court directed the state government counsel to seek instructions and inform the court whether permission had been obtained from the competent authority before the entire Gandhinagar main road was blocked.
