A division bench of vacation court of the Bombay high court, justice RM Sawant and justice Mridula Bhatkar granted this conditional permission to the state kho kho body ‘in national interest’.
The Maharashtra Kho Kho association will be allowed to use loudspeakers at the four-day National Kho Kho championship scheduled to start today at Shivaji Park. But they can do so only to make essential announcements and not for running commentaries.
A division bench of vacation court of the Bombay high court, justice RM Sawant and justice Mridula Bhatkar granted this conditional permission to the state kho kho body ‘in national interest’. “It is a national tournament in which about 1200 players and officials of 67 teams are participating. The tournament is likely to draw thousands of spectators from across the country. The officials are likely to select players for the upcoming national games (here),” observed the court. “Unless the players are given proper directions about the conduct of the games, the whole tournament will be seriously affected.”
The court has set five conditions for the association. Apart from the restrictions on the nature of the announcements, the association will also not be allowed to use loudspeakers for amplifying post-game speeches. The association has been asked to obey the rules of the Noise Pollution Act and will have to maintain noise levels below 50 db, the limit permissible in a ‘silence zone’. The loudspeakers may be used only between 7am and 12pm and the again between 4pm and 10pm, the intervals during which the matches are scheduled. No music may be played over the loudspeakers.
“This order has been passed keeping in mind the interest of justice and should not act as a precedent in the future,” remarked the judges.
The court was hearing a petition filed by the Maharashtra Kho Kho Association, which is affiliated to the Kho Kho Federation of India and the Indian Olympic Association. The court, in its order, has also observed that the preparations for the tournament had started as far back as January 2010. The association had obtained BMC’s permission for using the Shri Samarth Vyayam Mandir premises for organising the championship in April 2010.
The Association was forced to move the HC after the senior police officer of Shivaji Park and the office of the police commissioner of Mumbai denied it permission to use loudspeakers. This stand came in the wake of the May 5 directive of the HC to the state and the BMC to take steps necessary to notify Shivaji Park as a silence zone.
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