‘Ramlila Maidan booking rules for festivities not reasonable’: HC says frame policy every year

The Delhi High Court has instructed authorities to create new policies annually for allocating Ramlila Maidan during festivals, stating that the existing "first-come, first-served" rule is not reasonable. The court, led by Justice Amit Mahajan, rejected the NGO Rays of New Beginning Foundation's application to hold Dussehra celebrations on the ground, which had already been assigned to another party. The NGO had previously used the site in 2023 and 2024.

Justice Mahajan questioned the constitutionality of the "first-come, first-served" approach, arguing that it creates an unfair race for information and does not necessarily reflect a strong claim to a public facility. He emphasized that while this policy may be mechanically ascertainable, its rationality and public policy alignment are separate issues.

The court has outlined a framework for the Delhi government to follow each year. This includes publishing an annual site allocation notice at least 90 days before the event, detailing available grounds, their location, area, permitted uses, booking dates, restrictions, and charges. All applications for a specific site must be received within a predetermined time frame, and each application should undergo a common eligibility assessment.

The guidelines may also require applicants to submit a site-specific operational plan addressing safety arrangements, crowd capacity, ingress and egress, emergency response, fire and electrical safety, among other factors. Before allotting the site to an applicant, authorities will consider any objections and, in cases of multiple eligible applicants, conduct a comparative assessment based on a predetermined and published scoring matrix.