Mahim police to act on Bombay High Court order

The Mahim Police on Friday said that it will break its age-old tradition this year by dispensing with the use of loudspeakers and the usual band at the Mahim fair procession that it leads every December.

This was after the Bombay High Court issued a show-cause notice to Assistant Commissioner of Police (Mahim division) Shivlan Dhovale and senior police inspector of Mahim, Milind Idekar, for contempt of court, for allowing use of loudpspeakers within the police station premises during the Mahim Dargah fair held last year.

A senior Mumbai Police officer, on condition of anonymity, said, "We will be doing away with the band during the procession on the first day of the Mahim fair from this year onwards. We will follow the Bombay High Court guidelines and make sure that the tradition is continued, but without the band and loudspeakers."

Paramjit Singh Dahiya, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 5 said, "We will give our reply to the show-cause notice issued by the HC. We have recordings of the procession and we will submit it in the court."

The Mumbai police leads the procession on the thirteenth day of the Shawwal month in the Urdu calendar every year. The procession takes place on the first day of the annual 10-day Mahim fair. Two police officers from each police station in the city take part in the procession.