The Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi government and other authorities to frame comprehensive annual guidelines for allotting public grounds for Ramleela and similar cultural and religious events, holding that a “first come, first serve” policy is constitutionally unreasonable and may lead to unequal opportunities.

Justice Amit Mahajan passed the order on October 8 in Ray of New Beginning Foundation v. Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board & Ors.

The Court observed that while the “first come, first serve” policy may appear objective at first glance, it creates an unequal race for information by allowing applicants who learn about the availability of a public ground earlier to gain an advantage over others.

“The same creates a structural dilemma, that is, a person with privileged access to administrative information may obtain an advantage that is unavailable to others,” the Court observed.

The High Court directed the authorities to publish annual notices inviting applications for ground allotments at least 90 days before the first scheduled event. The notices must specify the available grounds, application deadlines, eligibility conditions, evaluation criteria and grievance-redressal mechanisms.

Where multiple eligible applicants seek the same ground, the authorities must conduct a comparative assessment based on a predetermined and publicly disclosed scoring matrix or other published criteria, the Court said.

The Court clarified that previous organisers may receive limited preference based on their compliance record but cannot claim an automatic right to allotment. Such preference must not continue for more than two consecutive years where other eligible applicants are competing for the same ground.

“The annual timetable must be designed so that the final allotment and ordinary grievance process are completed sufficiently before the event begins,” the Court directed.

The Court passed the order while hearing a petition filed by Rays of New Beginning Foundation challenging the rejection of its application to organise Ramleela at a ground in Delhi.

The foundation had organised Ramleela at the site in 2023 and 2024. It argued that the Delhi Development Authority’s (DDA) policy provided preference to previous organisers. However, the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) allotted the ground to another organisation that had applied earlier, relying on the first come, first serve policy.

After examining the matter, the High Court held that the first come, first serve approach was impermissible. However, it declined to cancel the existing allotment or transfer the ground to the petitioner for the 2026 festivities, noting that the events were about to commence.

Advocates Vikas Tripathi, Mandavi Pandey, Chandan, Kunal Shahi, Hema Kumari, Avinash Mishra, Raushan Kumar, Shivansh Dubey, Shivani, Pratham Singh, Aaditya Verma and Abhishek Kumar appeared for the petitioner.

Advocates Anuj Chaturvedi, Yashita Jain and Ashok Kumar Bhaskar represented DUSIB, while Standing Counsel Manika Tripathy appeared for the DDA.