Mumbai, Aug. 7 (PTI): Children below 14 cannot participate in the Dahi Handi festival, the Maharashtra government today told Bombay High Court, which accepted the statement but refused to impose any restrictions on the height of human pyramid formations.

A division bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and M.S. Karnik said it was not for the court to impose curbs on the age of the participants, called 'Govindas', or the height of the pyramids. "Imposing age and height restrictions is out of our purview. This falls exclusively in the domain of the state legislature. If we enter the arena of the state legislature, then we would be encroaching. It is for the legislature to decide and pass an enactment on the restrictions, if required," Justice Gavai said.

Additional solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state, told the court that according to the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, children below 14 would not be allowed to participate in the festival as the government had in August last year declared Dahi Handi an adventure sport. "We accept the statement by the government that it would ensure children below 14 years of age would not participate in the festival," Justice Gavai said.

The court was hearing two PILs, filed by Mumbai residents, expressing concern over the participation of minors and lack of safety measures blamed for several accidents. Dahi Handi, marking the birth of Lord Krishna, will be celebrated next week. The festivities involve forming a human pyramid and breaking a buttermilk-filled earthen pitcher tied to a rope at a height.

In 2014, the high court had banned children below 18 from the festival and capped the pyramids' height at 20 feet. The state had appealed in the Supreme Court, which referred the matter back to the high court in August this year, asking it hear the petitions afresh.

"While the concerns raised by the petitioners are laudable, we feel that most of the directions issued by the high court in its 2014 order pertaining to safety and remedial measures have been accepted by the state government," Justice Gavai noted.

When the petitioners' counsel sought a limit on the height of the pyramids and said Lord Krishna used to form only 10-feet high human chains, Justice Gavai said: "We do not even know if Lord Krishna existed. Accidents can happen anywhere and at anytime. People die while taking selfies... while playing cricket... while exercising... so many accidents occur in toilets. This does not mean the court can go on banning everything."