Supreme Court Allows Ram Lila Festivities to Continue, Asks High Court to Explore Alternative Venue.


25 September 2025 Public Interest Litigation >> Constitution & Law Procedure  

The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the continuation of the tradition of century-old Ram Lila festival at Tundla in Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh, while staying an interim order of the Allahabad High Court that had raised doubts about using a school playground for the function.

A Bench consisting of Justice Surya Kant, Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, and Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh was conducting hearing of a petition by the Shree Nagar Ram Lila Mahotsav against the September 22, 2025, interim order of the High Court in the wake of a public interest litigation. The PIL claimed that the playground of Zila Parishad Vidyalaya was being diverted for conducting Ram Lila performances and denying children complete usage of their sports facility.


 

 
 
 

The petitioner community, who were not impleaded during the High Court proceedings, maintained in the Supreme Court that the festival was conducted at the venue for nearly 100 years without disrupting student activities, as it takes place only in the evenings between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Noting the same, the Supreme Court ordered that the celebrations already in progress should be permitted to proceed, subject to there being no interference to recreational or sporting activities of students. The Court asked for the High Court to hear all the concerned stakeholders—also including the petitioner society—and to ponder whether an alternate venue could be set aside by the district administration for such cultural events in the future.

Concurrently, the Court made it clear that it will not go into the merits of the question since the case is still pending at the Allahabad High Court, for which the next date of hearing is November 4, 2025. Leave has already been granted to both the organisers of the festival and the PIL petitioner to approach for an earlier hearing, if necessary.

With these instructions, the special leave petition was dismissed.