Kerala HC retains firecracker ban at religious places, puts stay on raid orders

The HC ruling on Tuesday gives clarity on what can be considered “odd” hours and will be seen as a relief for Kerala government which had appealed against the interim order of the single judge bench

Kochi: A division bench of the Kerala high court on Tuesday partially quashed an interim order of a single judge bench in connection with a ban on the display of fireworks at religious places in the state at odd hours.

The division bench of Chief Justice AJ Desai and Justice VG Arun stayed the single judge order to conduct raids in religious places in Kerala and seize all crackers stored illegally with the help of the police. (HT Archives)

The division bench of Chief Justice AJ Desai and Justice VG Arun stayed the single judge order to conduct raids in religious places and seize all crackers stored illegally with the help of the police.

At the same time, it retained the ban on bursting crackers at “odd” hours at religious places. The high court clarified that the fireworks display could be done between 6 am and 10 pm as per the directions of the Supreme Court.

At the same time, for bursting of crackers during all other hours, the district administrations can consider requests for the same from religious institutions on a case-to-case basis.

The high court ruling on Tuesday provides clarity on what can be considered as “odd” hours and will be seen as a relief for the Kerala government which had appealed against the interim order of the single judge bench.

The state government told the high court that the direction issued to district administrations to conduct raids is an omnibus direction not warranted by factual or legal circumstances.

It also stated that the display of fireworks was an integral part of several temple festivals in the state and had been practised for decades.

The earlier interim order of the single judge bench on November 3 came in response to a petition filed by six people, all residents of Maradu in Ernakulam district, seeking a ban on the fireworks display at the Marattil Kottaram Bhagavathy temple. The bursting of crackers in large quantities, done as part of the annual festival, was detrimental to their safety including that of children, the plea had said.