The Karnataka High Court has directed the Kodagu deputy commissioner to decide by October 15 whether DJ sound systems can be used during the Madikeri Dasara tableaux processions scheduled for October 21 and 22, giving the district administration a defined deadline before the festival begins.
The direction was issued while disposing of a writ petition filed by Pandeera T. Poonacha, president of the Dasara Dashamantapa Committee. The petition sought permission to use DJ equipment and loudspeakers during the annual processions in Madikeri.
A single-judge bench headed by Justice C.M. Poonacha directed the deputy commissioner to consider the committee’s representation in accordance with law. The court also said that people who had objected to the request must submit their objections to the deputy commissioner by October 12.
The administration has been asked to examine both the committee’s request and the objections before taking a decision by October 15. The order does not itself grant permission to use DJ equipment. Instead, it places the decision with the district administration and requires it to be taken after considering the submissions from both sides.
According to the petition, the tableaux procession has been held in Madikeri for the past 40 years as part of the Dasara celebrations. The committee said this year’s celebrations would be conducted on October 21 and 22. It stated that committees from 10 local temples had been brought together under the Dasara Dashamantapa Committee to organise the festival.
Each participating temple is expected to present a tableau based on its own concept during the procession. The committee said it had submitted a request for permission to use DJ sound systems for the event, but no approval had been granted even after 15 days. The request became the subject of the court proceedings after objections were raised against allowing the equipment.
The case places the district administration in the position of balancing the festival committee’s request with objections submitted by other parties. The court’s direction requires the deputy commissioner to follow the applicable legal process rather than treat the filing as an automatic approval.
The immediate next steps are the submission of objections by October 12 and the deputy commissioner’s decision by October 15. That decision will determine whether DJ sound systems can be used during the Madikeri Dasara tableaux processions on October 21 and 22.
