Delhi High Court calls DDA's first-come-first-served Ramlila ground policy arbitrary

In a hearing before Justice Amit Mahajan, the Delhi High Court declared the Delhi Development Authority’s first-come-first-served approach for assigning public sites for Ramlila and similar cultural events to be arbitrary and legally untenable. The case was brought by Rays of New Beginning Foundation, which contested the rejection of its application for the Chunk-C Ground at Shivaji Place, Raja Garden, after the authority awarded the site to a later applicant based on an undocumented policy.

The court highlighted that the DDA had failed to publish any notice outlining the application period or the reliance on a first-come-first-served rule, thereby disadvantaging those without privileged access to information. While the court refused to cancel the existing allotment because the festivities were about to begin, it directed the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board to issue comprehensive, annually published guidelines covering notice periods, eligibility, assessment criteria, and grievance mechanisms for future allocations.