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The bench said that In cases where permission has already been granted by the authority concerned, additional conditions shall be immediately communicated to them that sarvajanik mandals shall not install idols made of Plaster of Paris
The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the civic authorities and the state government to inform the Sarvajanik Ganesh Pandals about the revised guidelines of the Central Pollution Control Board, which prohibit the use of Plaster of Paris (POP) idols for Ganesh Chaturthi.
The division bench of the high court, comprising Chief Justice Devendra Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar, was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the Vanshakti NGO, seeking the implementation of the guidelines that prohibit the use of POP for making idols.
The petition contended that even though the guidelines were in place, there was no implementation of the same. The said guidelines were enacted in 2020.
Some of the manufacturers who produce POP idols also sought to intervene in the PIL.
The high court noted that the Nagpur Bench of the high court, in a suo moto PIL, had banned the use of Plaster of Paris for idols.
The bench stated that the directions of the Nagpur Bench shall be mandatorily followed.
"..the sarvajanik mandals seeking permission for Ganesh festival shall be clearly intimated that they have to mandatorily follow the guidelines and that they will have to abide at least by one condition of the guidelines that they will not install any Ganesh idol made of Plaster of Paris," the order reads.
The bench said that In cases where permission has already been granted by the authority concerned, additional conditions shall be immediately communicated to them that sarvajanik mandals shall not install idols made of Plaster of Paris.
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