Can a Chhath Puja stage come up at Girgaon Chowpatty when the petitioner cannot show it followed the High Court’s earlier directions for the beach? The Bombay High Court has declined to permit it, holding that the freedom to practise religion under Article 25 is subject to public order, morality and health.
Mumbai: Freedom to practise religion carries checks and balances, the Bombay High Court said on Monday, November 9, as it refused to pass any order allowing a Mumbai-based group to put up a temporary stage at Girgaon Chowpatty for Chhath Puja celebrations planned for November 15 and 16, after the petitioner could not show that it had complied with earlier court directions governing events on the beach [Mithila Chhath Puja Sangh v. State of Maharashtra].
A Division Bench of Justice Advait M. Sethna and Justice Ranjitsinha Raja Bhonsale, sitting as the vacation court, heard the writ petition, which was moved on grounds of extreme urgency through a praecipe dated November 7.
The limits of Article 25
On the constitutional question, the Bench said:
“Undoubtedly, there is a freedom of conscience, and free profession, practice and propagation of religion. However, the same is subject to public order, morality and health, as provided in the constitutional provision. In other words, there are checks and balances which are provided and required to be followed, under such constitutional mandate.”
Earlier directions for the beach
Assistant Government Pleader Gauri Sawant, for the State, drew the Bench’s attention to the order dated June 21, 2018 in Adarsh Chowpatty Pragati Mandal (Writ Petition No. 2197 of 1998 with Writ Petition No. 1963 of 2000). In paragraph 23 of that order, the High Court confined the functions covered by the guidelines to a designated area of 300 x 150 sq. ft. and made the Monitoring Committee a necessary and proper party to any proceedings seeking permission for events or temporary structures on the beach. The State also relied on an October 13, 2005 judgment in the same writ petition laying down guidelines for such events.
Asked whether the petitioner had obtained the Monitoring Committee’s permission or made the Committee a party, counsel for the Sangh had “no satisfactory answer”, the Bench recorded.
How the Sangh came to Court
The Mithila Chhath Puja Sangh had applied on September 11 for permission to build a stage and make arrangements for the puja at Girgaon Chowpatty from 3 pm on November 15 to 8 am on November 16. By a letter dated September 17, the Senior Police Inspector of DB Marg Police Station objected to the request.
The letter, reproduced in the order, recorded that in a writ petition before the High Court a High Power Committee had been appointed for Girgaum Chowpatty and that no programme other than Ganeshotsav, Navratri Utsav, Ramlila, Krishnalila and Christmas was to be allowed there, with prior permission from all other departments. The Sangh then wrote to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on October 7, and its counsel told the Court that this representation was still pending.
No view on an alternative site
When counsel for the Sangh pressed for directions on an alternative site, the Bench declined to express any view and left the petitioner free to pursue its remedies in law. It said it was not inclined to pass any further orders at this stage and directed that the matter be listed after the Court reopens.
Why the order matters
Girgaon Chowpatty is one of Mumbai’s most heavily used public spaces, and events on it have been regulated for years through High Court orders and a court-appointed Monitoring Committee. The order makes clear that a festival’s religious character does not exempt organisers from that framework: a group seeking to use the beach must approach the Monitoring Committee and join it in any litigation.
The Bench did not rule on whether Chhath Puja can be held elsewhere in the city, and the Sangh’s representation to the Chief Minister remains pending. The ruling rests on Article 25’s express limits of public order, morality and health rather than on any view of the festival itself.
Case Title: Mithila Chhath Puja Sangh v. State of Maharashtra (Through The Principal Secretary)
Case No.: Writ Petition (L) No. 37429 of 2026
Bench: Justice Advait M. Sethna and Justice Ranjitsinha Raja Bhonsale (Vacation Court), Bombay High Court
Date of Order: November 9, 2026
Appearances: Jogendra Thakur for the petitioner; Bibhishan Sutar i/by Komal Punjabi for BMC; Gauri Sawant, AGP, for the State