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YB WEB DESK. Dated: 12/1/2020 11:41:08 AM

HC disapproves Collector order allowing 200 people to congregate

Mumbai , Nov 30 The Division Bench of Justice SB Shukre and Justice AG Gharote made this observation while dismissing a Petition filed through Advocate AS Athalye had challenging the permission given by the Collector to the Trust to organise a social gathering in Wardha, despite directions from the state government to prohibit all large public gatherings and congregations. Earlier, the Court passed an elaborate order on 25.11.2020, while observing that by the order, the Collector committed a breach of the orders of the State Government dated 30.09.2020 and 29.10.2020, and granted liberty to introspect and revise the order. The collector revised the order granting permission to hold a small gathering of persons not exceeding 50. The Counsel for the Petitioner Ashwini Athalye submitted that even the revised order does not fulfill the requirements of the Government orders dated 30.09.2020 and 29.10.2020 as large public gatherings/congregations have been altogether prohibited. According to her, as no number has been prescribed in relation to large public gatherings/congregations, it would have to be construed that any public gathering, which does not fall within the exceptions. The exceptions are of gatherings relating to marriages where the maximum permitted is 50 and funeral/ last rites where the maximum number is 20. “The ceilings prescribed for marriage or funeral related gatherings do not form a part of the common genus, rather they represent different species and therefore, in our considered view, the principle of subgeneric would have no application for constructing the meaning of large public gathering, so as to distinguish it from a small gathering. We are, therefore, of the view that what could be a small or large public gathering would have to be decided on the basis of facts and circumstances of each case and although, there cannot be any exhaustive illustration of all the facts and circumstances which could be considered as determinative factors in such a case, we can give a few examples”, the Court held while elaborating “large public gatherings/congregations”.