Ahead of the Uttarayan festival in the State, the Gujarat High Court on Friday clarified that all kinds of glass-coated threads used for kite-flying are banned [Siddharajsinh Mahavirsinh Chudasama & Anr v. State of Gujarat & Ors]..A Bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi clarified that the ban imposed by the State authorities in this regard includes cotton threads as well, along with other types of threads with glass coating. "Moreover, the Government Resolution dated 24.12.2024 does not make any classification between synthetic threads and cotton threads and all types of threads coated with glass and other harmful substance have been prohibited...All contentions made by the learned counsel for the private respondents in the direction that the cotton threads coated with glass are not included in the ban are found to be wholly misconceived and hence rejected," the Court said in its January 10 order..The Court passed its ruling on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by two individuals who sought enforcement of directions issued by the State government in its two circulars issued in January 2023 and December 2024. These circulars prohibited the use of Chinese lanterns, manjha, nylon/plastic dori (threads), and plastic threads coated with glass or other hazardous materials used for kite-flying during the Makar Sankranti festival (Uttarayan) celebrated in Gujarat..Certain traders of kites and cotton thread manjhas used for kite flying argued that none of the previous orders issued by the Court or the National Green Tribunal (NGT) prohibiting hazardous substances in kite-flying materials had specifically mentioned a ban on glass-coated threads.Thus, they urged the Court to modify its earlier order passed on January 8, 2024 calling for steps taken by State authorities towards the effective implementation of the ban imposed on such threads.It was contended that since there is no specific reference to cotton threads coated with glass in the earlier directions, there cannot be any restraint on the trading of the same. .The Court, however, disagreed with the submissions and said that cotton threads coated with glass cannot be said to be harmless to human beings and birds."This submission is neither here nor there, inasmuch as, the learned counsel for the respondent could not argue that the cotton threads coating with glass cannot be said to be coating with harmful substance and it would not be dangerous to human beings and birds," the Court noted in its Order.Further, the Court stated that a resolution issued by the State government on December 24, 2024, which prohibits the use of such dangerous substances used for manufacturing kite-flying paraphernalia, does not make any classification between synthetic threads and cotton threads.The resolution prohibits all types of threads coated with glass or other harmful substances, the Court clarified..Advocates Bhunesh C Rupera and MM Beg appeared for the private traders.Advocates RC Kakkad and Harshesh R Kakkad represented the private respondents.Advocate Vishwas K Shah represented People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).Public Prosecutor GH Virk represented the State of Gujarat..[Read Order]
