The Bombay High Court on Tuesday approved a Muharram procession between 4 and 7 pm on Friday, with seven vehicles containing no more than 15 people each, including photographers and videographers.
According to the court, the total number of people in the seven trucks should not exceed 100 and Taziya height should not surpass 6 feet, while the height of Alam in each truck should not exceed 10 feet. The court also stated that no music or band will accompany the march.
The All India Idara Tahafuz e Hussainiyat, a religious organisation in south Mumbai that had filed a petition seeking permission for Muharram processions, was granted permission to transport the Tazia, a copy of Imam Hussain’s tomb, by truck only from Bhendi Bazaar to the Mazgaon graveyard.
The court stated that all participants in the march should have had both doses of anti-Covid vaccination, with 14 days between the first and second doses. The court further limited the number of individuals allowed inside the cemetery after the procession ended to only 25 out of 100 people and prohibited people from following the trucks on the highways.
The court ordered that the names of individuals taking part in the procession be submitted to the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the affected region by August 19 afternoon and someone from the organisation with authorization should assist the administration in maintaining control of the situation.
A division bench of Justice K K Tated and Justice P K Chavan was hearing a plea filed by the organisation, which asked for orders to enable Muharram rites while adhering to the Covid-19 guidelines.
The petition asked for authorization to have Muharram processions with a restricted number of people and for relief from the state government’s August 9 order prohibiting them.
Muharram will be commemorated in a modest manner, according to the state administration and processions would be prohibited due to the pandemic.
The petitioner’s senior lawyer, Rajendra Shirodkar, said that Shia Muslims were seeking authorization for a restricted number of people to perform the rites in south Mumbai and people who had received a single dose of the Covid-19 vaccination should also be considered.
Purnima H Kantharia, a government pleader, said that during religious processions, large crowds of people from many streets assemble and police would have to send troops from all zones, since regulating a crowd and procession is tough and doing so during a pandemic is not recommended.
While granting authorization, the court required the organisation to agree to follow the state’s Covid-19 standards, including the procedure for physical separation or face legal action and no further Taziyas would be carried out in the state.
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Under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the state government is also authorised to put limitations on the assembling of people at appropriate locations, including the beginning point of Taziya up to the graveyard, the bench said
The state must also provide an escort and a pilot car for the truck transporting the Taziya, as well as take efforts to keep traffic away by clearing the road for the procession, the court added.
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