The Delhi High Court has directed Delhi government authorities to frame comprehensive guidelines every year for allotment of public grounds for Ramleela and similar cultural or religious events [Ray of New Beginning Foundation v. Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board & Ors].
Justice Amit Mahajan passed the order on October 8, holding that a “first come, first serve” policy for allotment of such spaces is constitutionally unreasonable and can create unequal opportunities for applicants.
The Court reasoned that at first sight, the expression “first come first serve” seems to embody an objective rule, but it creates an unequal race for information by incentivising the discovery of availability of a public ground before competing applicants become aware of it.
“The same creates a structural dilemma, that is, a person with privileged access to administrative information may obtain an advantage that is unavailable to others,” the Court said.
Therefore, it directed the authorities to publish annual site-allocation notices at least 90 days before the first scheduled event. The Court said that notices must specify available grounds, application timelines, eligibility conditions, evaluation criteria and grievance-redressal mechanisms.
Where multiple eligible applicants compete for a site, authorities must conduct a comparative assessment using a predetermined, published scoring matrix or other published criteria, the Court said.
It clarified that previous organisers may receive limited preference based on their compliance record but cannot enjoy an automatic right to allotment. Such preference should not extend beyond two consecutive years where competing eligible applicants exist.
“The annual timetable must be designed so that the final allotment and ordinary grievance process are completed sufficiently before the event begins,” the Court ordered.
The Bench passed the order while hearing a plea filed by Rays of New Beginning Foundation challenging the rejection of its application to organise Ramleela at a ground in Delhi.
The foundation, which held the event there in 2023 and 2024, said the Delhi Development Authority’s (DDA) policy provided preference to previous organisers. However, the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) allotted the ground to another organisation that had applied earlier, citing a first come first serve policy.
After considering the case, the Court held the first come first serve policy to be wrong. However, it declined to cancel the existing allotment or transfer the ground to the petitioner for the 2026 festivities, holding that the events were about to commence.
Advocates Vikas Tripathi, Mandavi Pandey, Chandan, Kunal Shahi, Hema Kumari, Avinash Mishra, Raushan Kumar, Shivansh Dubey, Shivani, Pratham Singh, Aaditya Verma and Abhishek Kumar appeared for the petitioner.
DUSIB was represented by advocates Anuj Chaturvedi, Yashita Jain and Ashok Kumar Bhaskar.
Standing Counsel Manika Tripathy represented the DDA.
[Read Judgment]