Shankarapuram Residents’ Welfare Association has lost its legal battle against allowing non-sporting activities in the playground abutting National College at Basavanagudi as the Supreme Court has dismissed their plea.
The Association had moved the apex court questioning the Karnataka High Court’s July 28, 2017 order refusing to interfere in the decision of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to allow use of the playground for non-sporting events for five days in a month.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Justice A.M, Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud on October 3 summarily dismissed the Association’s special leave petition without even issuing notice to the BBMP.
Observing that cultural and other activities for the benefit of citizen also have their importance, the High Court had said that the BBMP, in its wisdom, had decided to restrict permission to use the playgrounds for activities other than sports for a maximum period of five days in a month. As the playground abutting National College is an open land and not a specially constructed or designated stadium or a sport complex, the BBMP’s decision does not suffer from any irrationality or illegality, the High Court had said.
The Association had pleaded before both the courts that allowing use of the playground, which is situated in the midst of a residential locality, for exhibitions, fairs and community events causes inconvenience to the residents due to various factors like traffic hazard and rendering the locality untidy, as there are no toilets in the playground.
