HC grants permission for Muharram procession in Mumbai
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday granted permission for a Muharram procession in the city with stringent restrictions in place in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and Madhav Jamdar gave permission after the Maharashtra government granted hearing to a local Shia Muslim organization that had petitioned the court seeking permission for a symbolic procession for Muharram amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The state government and the petitioner, All India Idaara-E-Tahafuz-E-Hussainiyat, reached an agreement and informed the court of the same on Friday, following which, the court granted permission for the procession.
As per the court's order, members of the Shia Muslim community will be permitted to carry out the procession on August 30, between 4.30 pm and 5.30 pm on one pre-determined route only by trucks and not on foot.
A maximum of five persons will be allowed on a truck and only five will be permitted walk with the 'Tazia' symbol for the last 100 meters on the selected route, the order stated.
The five participants of the procession will have to give their home addresses to the Mumbai police beforehand, the court said.
The court also directed the state government to impose all necessary restrictions, including section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code [CrPC] if required, to control crowds and manage the procession.
In its plea filed through advocates Rajendra Shirodkar, and Shehzad and Asif Naqvi, the petitioner organization had said each year, between the 7th and 10th day of Muharram, the Shia community here carry out a procession holding 'Alam' and 'Tazia' symbols from Mohammed Ali Road to the graveyard on Reay Road in the city.
The petitioner urged the court to grant permission to carry out the procession this year as well, albeit with a limited number of people and with necessary precautions such as masks and social distancing in place.
The petitioner had come to HC after the state government issued two government resolutions earlier this month prohibiting mourning processions and asking everyone to mark Muharram at home in light of the pandemic.
The organization had argued that if the state government had permitted Ganesh idol immersions with health safeguards, it must also permit the Muharram mourning procession.
The bench on Thursday had directed the state disaster management department to give the petitioner a hearing and said if the organization was asking for something similar to what was allowed for the Ganpati festival then the state could not deny it permission, as it would amount to "discrimination".
As per Friday's order, the procession will be carried out from Bhendi Bazaar to the Shia cemetery in Byculla in the city.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
