Supreme Court to Hear Plea Against Allahabad HC Stay on Ramlila at School Ground

The Supreme Court has agreed to urgently hear a plea filed by a Ramlila organising committee against the Allahabad High Court’s order stopping Ramlila celebrations at a school ground in Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh. The matter will be taken up tomorrow by a bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh.

The committee argued that the High Court passed the order without giving them a chance to present their side. They pointed out that the Ramlila had already been running for 10 days before the stay order was passed.

The High Court’s decision came in a PIL which alleged that the school ground was being permanently altered for Ramlila by laying interlocking tiles, building a “Sita Ram Gate” and putting up swings at the entrance. The petitioner also claimed that teaching would suffer during the 18-day event and children would lose access to their playground.

On the other hand, state authorities said the tiles were laid only to deal with waterlogging and clarified that Ramlila had been held there for more than 100 years, limited to 7–10 pm daily. However, the High Court noted that it was unclear who had permitted the event and observed that the large stage setup was clearly affecting school activities.

The High Court also expressed concern that the ground was being converted into a permanent event venue, which it found impermissible. It then restrained further use of the ground for Ramlila until the state filed its reply. Challenging this order, the organisers have now moved the Supreme Court.