The Bombay High Court has directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to re-upload a Diwali video featuring actor Dia Mirza after the civic body removed it following objections from Mumbai BJP president Amit Satam. The order has triggered a political dispute in Maharashtra over municipal messaging on pollution, festivals and the limits of political intervention in civic communication.
The video, shared by the BMC during Diwali, featured Mirza speaking about the impact of firecrackers and the need to reduce pollution. According to the report, the civic body deleted the video after Satam objected to its content. The High Court subsequently took suo motu cognisance of the matter and directed the BMC to upload the video again.
The bench of Justices Gokhale and Kulkarni also emphasised that India belongs to people of all religions and that citizens’ rights under the Constitution must be respected, according to the report. The court’s intervention came after the video became a political issue, with leaders questioning whether an actor should advise citizens on how to celebrate a festival.
BMC Deputy Mayor and Shiv Sena councillor Sanjay Ghadi said the video should be restored in full. He said the civic body would have to comply once it received the court’s order and that the judiciary must be respected irrespective of the political party or individual involved. Ghadi also said the BMC should promote the court’s directions on steps to reduce pollution in Mumbai, including the use of well-known public figures to communicate with residents.
The political response has not been uniform. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis described the issue as a small matter and said deciding which video the BMC should retain or remove was the civic body’s responsibility. He also said Mirza was not a political figure on whom he needed to comment. Mumbai BJP chief Satam, who had first objected to the video, said he would study the court’s observations and their context. He added that his objection was not related to anyone’s religion, caste or sect, but to people he alleged were linked to anti-India forces.
The dispute has also drawn comments from other political figures. Shiv Sena’s Ghadi said he found nothing objectionable in Mirza’s video and that she had not made remarks against Hindus or in favour of Muslims. NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) MLA Rohit Pawar also supported Mirza, saying the content was similar to a video featuring actor Madhuri Dixit. Earlier, Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde had reportedly described Mirza as opposed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said she would not invite her to civic programmes.
The episode places the BMC’s public communication function at the centre of a wider administrative question: whether a municipal campaign created to address air pollution can be withdrawn because of political objections, and how civic agencies should respond when public messaging intersects with religious or political sensitivities. The immediate next step is the BMC’s compliance with the High Court’s direction to restore the video.
