Mumbai, July 30, 2026: The Bombay High Court on Thursday asked the Maharashtra government to clarify its stand on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal urging citizens to use only eco-friendly clay idols during the upcoming Ganesh festival and adjourned the hearing to August 4.
The hearing was adjourned after the advocate for the Akhil Sarvajanik Utsav Samiti Maharashtra, which represents Ganesh mandals across the state, said they would wait to see whether the government was “in favour of us or against us” before making their submissions.
Government To Clarify Position
On Wednesday, the state government had informed the court that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis would convene a meeting of all stakeholders on July 31 to discuss the Prime Minister’s appeal promoting the use of eco-friendly clay idols during the festival.
A bench of Justices Ajey Gadkari and Kamal Khata is hearing a batch of petitions concerning the implementation of the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) revised 2020 guidelines, which prohibit the immersion of plaster of Paris (PoP) idols in natural water bodies.
The matters include a public interest litigation filed by environmentalist Rohit Joshi seeking strict enforcement of the guidelines, as well as petitions by PoP idol manufacturers challenging their validity.
PoP Manufacturers Await Outcome
On Thursday, advocate Uday Warunjikar, appearing for the PoP idol manufacturers, told the court that they would first hear the government’s stand after the July 31 meeting and then advance their arguments on August 5.
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Warunjikar has previously argued that the CPCB’s 2020 revised guidelines have no statutory backing and are therefore unenforceable. He has also contended that the real issue is identifying the actual source of pollution, rather than attributing it solely to PoP idols.
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