Uttarakhand must identify and publish a statewide list of parks, playgrounds and open spaces within nine months, High Court directs

The petitioner, a cricket player and resident of Ramnagar, alleged that the M.P. Inter College playground—the town’s only available sports ground—was being used for non-sporting commercial activities.

The lease granted to the College had expired in 1995, and the Nagar Palika Parishad submitted that the land had reverted to the State and could be managed by it as caretaker.

An earlier order restrained the College from using the ground except for sporting activity.

The Court was also considering an application by the Sri Ramleela Committee seeking permission to burn an effigy of Ravana on the ground for Dussehra.

The petitioner sought, among other reliefs, publication of the statutory list of parks, playgrounds and open spaces and protection of the ground for sports.

Whether the State was required to undertake the statutory exercise of identifying parks, playgrounds and open spaces and publish the prescribed list under the Uttar Pradesh Parks, Playgrounds and Open Spaces (Preservation and Regulation) Act, 1975, as applicable in Uttarakhand.

Whether, pending that exercise, the playground could be used for a non-sporting purpose, including the proposed Dussehra event, and on what terms.

The Court applied the Uttar Pradesh Parks, Playgrounds and Open Spaces (Preservation and Regulation) Act, 1975, as applicable in Uttarakhand.

Section 3(1) requires the prescribed exercise concerning parks, playgrounds and open spaces, and Section 3(4) provides for publication of the relevant list.

Section 7 requires a local authority to maintain in clean and proper condition parks, playgrounds and open spaces belonging to or vested in it and included in a list published under Section 3 or Section 4.

No judicial precedent was cited.

The Court accepted the concern that the statutory mechanism for preserving open spaces and playgrounds was ineffective in the absence of the required identification and publication exercise.

It therefore directed the Secretary, Urban Development, to complete the exercise under Section 3(1) and subsequently publish the list under Section 3(4).

To protect the particular ground while that exercise remained pending, the Court restricted its use to sporting activity unless the District Magistrate concerned granted prior written permission; the Ramleela Committee was left free to apply to the District Magistrate.

Until then, the ground could not be used for purposes other than sporting activity without the District Magistrate’s prior written permission.

The Ramleela Committee could seek such permission from the District Magistrate, Nainital.

Pending applications were also disposed of.