Just a day before the whole of Maharashtra goes for Dahi Handi celebrations, the Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to lift the capping on the height of human pyramid following an organiser's last-ditch attempt to convince the court for modification of its earlier order.
"To increase the height is very scary," said a bench headed by justice AR Dave and dismissed the plea seeking relaxation on the limit of the height.
The plea was filed by Jai Jawan Govinda Pathak on the ground that while the SC fixed the age limit to 18 years and above, the height of the pyramid should be allowed up to 43 ft. Since minors have been barred from participating, the risk factor has gone down, the petitioner's counsel told the court seeking to allow the height beyond 20 ft.
The petitioner said that the sport is very popular in the state and people eagerly wait for the occasion to take part in it. It loses its significance if the height limit was not relaxed. "If there is no adventure in a game, there is no point celebrating it," the lawyer also argued.
The bench commented: "Are you getting an Olympic medal for this? Then we will be happy."
The petitioner, seeking an urgent hearing a day before Janmashtami, has argued against the height restriction saying the sport is famous and earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
The Maharashtra government had also said that "the height is the charm of the sport and courts can consider increasing the height to 25 ft."
"Last week, the court banned those below 18 years from participating in forming pyramids and limited the height to 20 ft. It confirmed an order by the Bombay High Court two years ago, which was challenged by the Maharashtra government.
