The Chhattisgarh High Court has once again expressed strong displeasure over people celebrating birthdays on roads. During the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL), the court told the advocate representing the state government that perhaps “you people have now failed.” The court said it would now make such individuals parties to the case and prosecute them for contempt of court orders — since the administration is unable to control the situation.
Making such remarks, the division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Kumar Sinha and Justice Amitendra Prasad showed strong anger during the hearing. The matter under consideration was a PIL being heard on Monday, in which the court had taken suo motu cognizance regarding the celebration of birthdays on roads. During the proceedings, a case came to the court’s notice involving Chhattisgarh Health Minister’s personal secretary, Rajendra Das, who celebrated his wife’s birthday on a public road. The court reacted strongly and said that since the Health Minister’s name is involved, he himself should take cognizance and ensure action is taken. The court also expressed serious displeasure with the state government, as such incidents keep recurring despite previous directions.
Incidents Not Stopping
In fact, several incidents have surfaced in the state where people park their cars or form convoys of luxury vehicles to cut cakes and celebrate on the road. The Chhattisgarh High Court had taken cognizance of many such cases earlier and directed the state government to curb such practices, but these incidents show no sign of stopping. A few days ago, the Health Minister’s personal assistant was seen celebrating his wife’s birthday in the middle of the road with fireworks and crackers — and the video went viral. It is said that the photos and videos were posted on social media platform X. The location was identified as Sonawani Naka (Dadu Lahiri Chowk) near Domanhill in Chirmiri Municipal Corporation area, on which the court expressed strong disapproval.
Video of Stunt on Moving Car Goes Viral
Recently, a video of a cake being cut on the bonnet of a car with a blue beacon and stunts being performed on a moving vehicle went viral on social media. The woman seen sitting on the car’s bonnet was identified as the wife of Taslim Arif, DSP of the 12th Battalion in Balrampur-Ramanujganj, a case that the court had taken cognizance of earlier. Action was taken after that. Similarly, in other incidents — the son of a mall owner in Raipur, a Congress leader in another case, and the Raipur Mayor’s son in yet another — all organized celebrations on public roads.
Birthday Celebration by Parking Car in the Middle of the Road
Similarly, in Bilaspur’s Ratanpur Bypass Road, a group of young men was found celebrating a birthday in the middle of the road and cutting a cake with a sword. This led to traffic jams and public disorder, and the video went viral. After the media reported the incident, the court took cognizance and issued a stern reprimand. The police then arrested 15 young men and seized their vehicles along with a sword. A case was filed against them. Out of the 15 boys, 9 were minors, while the adults were only around 18 years old. Such incidents are continuously increasing across the state.
During the hearing, the bench of the Chief Justice told the Advocate General representing the state government that “perhaps you people have failed.” The court said, “Now we will make that person a party to the case and prosecute them for violating the court’s orders. We will bring such individuals here because you are helpless — you are unable to control the situation. All you do is file an FIR, they pay a fine of 5,000–10,000 rupees and get away.”
Chief Justice Ramesh Kumar Sinha said that such incidents are a direct challenge to the authority of the court. “If they wish to challenge the authority of the court, then you must show them how the authority of the court is established,” he said.
