Supreme Court Allows Jharkhand Govt To Cut Power Supply In Ram Navami Procession Routes To Avoid Electrocution Of People Carrying Poles

The Supreme Court today (April 4) allowed the Jharkhand Government to cut the power supply during the upcoming Ram Navami processions to prevent unwarranted instances of electrocution due to people carrying long poles and flags. 

The State of Jharkhand approached the Supreme Court against the Jharkhand High Court's suo moto order against shutting down the electric power supply during festivals.

The bench of CJI Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and KV Viswanathan modified the order of the High Court and allowed the power cuts on routes where the Ram Navami processions would follow. It also ordered the State Government to limit the power cuts and keep it confined to the procession routes only. 

The Court also asked the State to continue the supply of Hospitals amidst the planned power cuts. The Chief of Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (JBVNL) was further directed to file an affidavit before the High Court stating to undertake that the power cuts would be to the minimum duration and would not affect the supply to the Hospitals. 

The modification was made after Sr Adv Kapil Sibal, appearing for the State, stressed that the festival-specific power cuts were being carried out by the State for over 20 years to avoid electrocution as several people carried long flags during the processions. 

The High Court passed the order taking suo motu cognisance of the power cuts by JBVNL faced by locals during festival processions. 

The Special Leave Petition filed by the State was mentioned before Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna for urgent listing this morning. CJI then agreed to hear the matter today after the State cited urgency due to the impending Ram Navami. 

Before The High Court

The High Court had ordered the JBVNL not to shut down the power supply for long hours, similar to what was done on April 1, amidst the Sarhul Festival, unless required due to extreme emergencies such as extremely bad weather. 

The Order was passed by the bench of Chief Justice MS Ramachandra Rao and Justice Deepak Roshan. The bench also observed that  5-10 hours long power cut in the City from 1 PM to 11 PM during the Sarhul Festival was concerning. It also sought a response from the Advocate General and scheduled the hearing for April 9. 

It further observed that power cuts like these would detrimentally impact the lives of senior citizens, those who are facing illness, students studying for exams, pregnant women and even hospitals. 

"It cannot be disputed that electricity supply is an essential service in today's world."

"As the hot summer season has started, stoppage of electricity supply by JBVNL affects the lives of residents of the city more so that of old people, sick people, young children, pregnant women and students studying for exams. Also businesses need to be shutdown causing loss of revenue to the persons who run the businesses. It will also affect treatment of patients in private and public hospitals."

The High Court also directed the authorities to ensure that organisers of the procession do not carry long poles/flags which may disrupt the power supply.  The relevant part of the High Court order reads : 

The State authorities, which gives permission to such processions during festivals or otherwise, must fix an appropriate height/length of such poles/ flags so that they will not come into contact with the electrical wires laid down by the JBVNL.  

Therefore, pending further orders the respondents are directed to immediately fix the height/length of poles/flags which can be carried in the procession and also immediately notify all organisers of processions of the same and ensure that all such organisers comply with this norm.

The respondent- JBVNL is further directed not to shut down electricity supply in the manner it was done on 01.04.2025 in future unless such a measure is warranted due to some serious emergency such as extreme bad weather or the like. 

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