The Delhi
High Court on Thursday dismissed a plea opposing the permission given to Sikhs
to carry kirpans while travelling on civilian flights in India.
The plea, filed in a form of public interest
litigation (PIL) by lawyer Harsh Vibhore Singhal, challenged the Centre's
notification issued on March 4 allowing Sikh passengers to carry kirpans having
blade length of no more than six inches and total length of no more than nine
inches while travelling anywhere in India.
On December 15, the HC reserved its order on the plea.
A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra
Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad had said: "How can we interfere with
such a policy decision? We can't interfere. It is a policy decision of the
Government of India."
The petitioner had claimed that a committee of
stakeholders should be constituted to apply its mind to the issue.
At this, the court had said: "Your mind might not
be the government's mind. Therefore when the government has applied its mind
and has come with a policy, we ought not to interfere unless it is so
arbitrary."
The court had also refused to entertain submissions by
certain parties as their applications were not on record.
The plaintiff had said that he was not questioning the
rights of Sikhs but only wanted the stakeholders to examine the issue.
He had said: "I admit that Article 25 allows the
carriage of a kirpan. But when you are flying, the regulator must apply its
mind. I want a constitution of a committee of stakeholders to examine the
issue. If the committee feels that the notification is good, so be it. Not a
problem."
Defending his argument, he argued that the Bureau of
Civil Aviation Security has not formulated the policy but was only
following what the government has said.
"Safety measures, including stationing of
marshals, have been put in place by the authorities," advocate Anjana
Gosain had said, representing the respondents.
On August 18, the court had refused to pass an interim
order staying the operation of the decision allowing Sikhs to carry
kirpans having a blade length of up to six inches on flights.