Ram Navami: Jharkhand cuts power on rally route, draws SC's displeasure

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday disapproved of the Jharkhand govt's decision to disrupt power supply for 10 hours in areas where Ram Navami processions would pass through and asked the state to limit the outage to the "barest minimum" while ensuring continuous supply to essential services including hospitals .

This order was passed by a bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, and Justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanathan on an appeal filed by Jharkhand govt challenging a HC order directing no disruption of power supply during the Ram Navami processions.

For the state, senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the court that the decision to stop power supply on the routes of Ram Navami procession was taken as there had been several instances of electrocution of members of the procession who carry long metallic poles that serve as flag posts. As many as 29 people have died in the past two decades, Sibal said.

Sibal said the HC has asked the govt to order a reduction in the length of the poles carried by members of the procession, which is impossible to implement as the celebrations are scheduled for Sunday. He said the HC passed the orders suo motu and that no one had complained about the power disruptions announced by the state. Sibal said the power outage will be from 1.20pm to 11.30pm and confined only to routes taken by the processions. But CJI Khanna-led bench said a 10 hour-long power cut in the summer days in Jharkhand will be excessive.

The top court listed Jharkhand's appeal for further hearing on April 8.