The Delhi High Court has asked the concerned authorities to frame comprehensive guidelines each year governing the allotment of grounds for Ramleela and similar cultural or religious events. The High Court held that the first-come, first-served basis policy used to consider the allotment was marred with blemishes.

The High Court was considering a Petition challenging the communication whereby the application of the petitioner for allotment of Chunk-C Ground, Shivaji Place, Raja Garden, New Delhi for organising the annual Ramleela Dussehra Mahotsav was rejected.

The Single Bench of Justice Amit Mahajan held, “Secondly, even if this Court were to perceive the case of Respondent No. 1 in the best light and it was to be considered that the applications were to be decided on a first come first serve basis, still, this Court is of the considered opinion that the said policy is marred with blemishes and cannot be countenanced. The reasons for the same are myriad.”

“However, insofar as the policy in relation to allotment of grounds for the subsequent years are concerned, Respondent No. 1 is directed to undertake a reasoned review of the applicable instructions and frame comprehensive guidelines each year governing the allotment of grounds for Ramleela and similar cultural or religious events…”, it ordered.

Advocate Vikas Tripathi represented the Appellant while Advocate Anuj Chaturvedi represented the Respondent.

Factual Background

The petitioner had organised the Ramleela Dussehra Mahotsav in the said ground in the years 2023 and 2024 after obtaining allotment from the respondent authorities. For conducting the same this year as well, the petitioner had preferred an application seeking allotment of the said ground for the period between September 25, 2026 to November 8, 2026. The petitioner claimed that despite representations by the petitioner, no action was taken by the respondent authorities.

Consequently, the petitioner preferred a writ petition which was disposed of with a direction to the respondent authorities to forthwith decide on the petitioner’s application. In the aftermath of the writ petition and the subsequent representations, the respondent authorities issued the communication thereby rejecting the application of the petitioner on the ground that in accordance with the High Level Coordination Committee (HLCC) guidelines, the allotment was to be made on a first come first serve basis. The temporary allotment was made in favour of the sixth Respondent. Aggrieved by the same, the petitioner approached the High Court.

Reasoning

The Bench found that no notice or publication was released delineating the specific window for preferring an application, and providing that the applications would be considered on a first come first serve basis.

As per the Bench, the SOP issued by DDA, though it provided preference for societies that had hosted the festivities in the preceding years, ran the risk of creating a de facto monopoly. “In the opinion of this Court, thus, a structural framework ought to be set out to govern booking of the ground”, it added.

Considering that the festivities are about to commence and, the immediate cancellation of existing allotment and transfer of the ground to the petitioner for the ongoing 2026 festivities is not feasible, the Bench disposed of the petition by ordering, “The concerned authorities are directed to frame comprehensive policies every year before the exercise of allotment of grounds for the purpose of conductions of festivities is undertaken.”

Cause Title: Rays of New Beginning Foundation v. Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2026:DHC:9064)

Appearance

Appellant: Advocates Vikas Tripathi, Mandavi Pandey, Chandan, Kunal Shahi, Hema Kumari, Avinash Mishra, Raushan Kumar, Shivansh Dubey, Shivani, Pratham Singh, Aaditya Verma, Abhishek Kumar

Respondent: Advocates Anuj Chaturvedi, Yashita Jain, Ashok Kumar Bhaskar, Standing Counsel Manika Tripathy

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Delhi HCJustice Amit Mahajan

Tulip Kanth

Assistant Editor

Tulip Kanth is an Assistant Editor at Verdictum having over 5 years of experience in the field of legal journalism and editing. She extensively covers judgments of the Supreme Court, High Courts as well as Tribunals. She has previously worked with a legal publishing website where she oversaw the work of other editors and has also created updates on notifications of different Government Ministries. She holds an English Honours Degree from SGTB Khalsa College, Delhi University and has completed her LLB course with specialisation in Corporate Law from Amity University.