Allahabad High Court directs live streaming inside Banke Bihari temple during Janmashthami

Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh) [India], August 17 (ANI): The Allahabad High Court has handed over the responsibility of law and order to the district administration during the Janmashtami festival at Banke Bihari temple in Mathura from August 25 to 29.

The court on Friday also ordered the state government to restrict live streaming to the temple premises to control the crowd.

The court, in consultation with the Civil Judge, Junior Division, Mathura, has allowed the installation of CCTV cameras through receivers under the temple system in place since 1939. The District Magistrate has been ordered to comply with the directions of the Civil Judge.

The court said that arrangements for the Janmashtami festival will be made under the supervision of the temple management along with the government.

This order was given by the bench of Justice Siddharth Verma and Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra while hearing the Public Interest Litigation of Anant Sharma and another person from Mathura after a stampede at the temple in August last year. The next hearing of the petition will be on August 28.

Earlier, the court issued some instructions to the government on December 8, 2023, regarding crowd management. Which could not be followed. Now the government has filed an application seeking revision of the instructions.

People objected to the government’s demand and said crowd control cannot be done by a court order. The government has filed an affidavit saying that proper arrangements will be made on the occasion of ‘Janmashtami’.

The Uttar Pradesh government counsel appraised that there will be barricading done for crowd control and a certain number will enter the temple at a time while the live streaming will happen inside and outside the temple and screens will be placed outside at various places.

Advocate Sankalp Goswami opposed the live streaming outside the temple, to which the court allowed live streaming only inside the temple.