Bombay HC directs BMC to permit Mumbai mall to hold three-day ice cream festival

Malls are not just for shopping but also for leisure, amusement and other recreational activities, Bombay High Court has held, directing Mumbai civic body Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to permit a mall to hold a three-day ice cream festival on its premises.

A division bench of Justices G S Kulkarni and R N Laddha in its order of April 26, a copy of which was made available on Thursday, said there was nothing objectionable and irregular if malls utilise their open spaces to organise such temporary festivals for the benefit of the public at large.

The order came on a petition filed by R Mall Developers against the refusal of the BMC to grant them a no objection certificate, or NOC, to hold an ice cream festival in the courtyard of the R City Mall at suburban Ghatkopar from April 28-30.

The civic body rejected permission on the grounds that such commercial activity was not permissible in the recreational or open space of the mall, petitioner's advocates Mayur Khandeparkar and Saket Mone argued that the activity is for a limited period of about three days and only temporary stalls would be installed. They further said that the stalls would be installed by shops that already have permanent licenses in the mall.

The court held that people visit malls not only for shopping but also for leisure or amusement that they would derive from visiting different areas created in the mall such as the food court, play area, cinema theatre and so on.

It is only an activity where the visitors of the mall would enjoy the benefit of a variety of edibles at a common open space, which, in our opinion, is a permissible recreational activity, HC said, adding such activities are intended to benefit the the public at large, especially in a city like Mumbai where a large segment of the population would be interested in such events.