HC seeks reply from Centre, Delhi Govt, cops
The Delhi High Court received a PIl (Public Interest litigation) on Monday seeking stringent norms to curb the practice of ‘celebratory firing’. The court, in this regard, issued notice and asked for response from the Delhi Government, the Delhi Police and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The PIl was heard by the Bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath who issued notice to the Centre, The AAP Government and Delhi Police Commissioner’s office and sought their replies by August 17, the next date of hearing.
The court observed that “some guidelines and rules should be there.”
The petition has been moved by the father of a girl who died in April this year as a result of ‘celebratory firing’ that took place during a marriage procession.
The petitioner, Shyam Sunder Kausal, contended that the act of celebratory firing at weddings and other functions, is an “obnoxious practice” which “causes terror in the general public”.
In his plea, he has sought directions to the MHA to “frame stringent policy/rules/guidelines to curb obnoxious practice of celebratory firing”.
He has claimed that the practice of celebratory firing is “not under check” and consequently the “numbers of deaths are increasing”.
Apart from that, the petition filed through advocate Akash Vajpai also sought directions to the MHA to evolve a mechanism to ensure arms licences are not misused “and if anyone was found misusing their license, their license should be cancelled”.
The petitioner has also sought directions to the Centre to “impose heavy fine on the person who misuses his licensed arms and pay compensation to every injured person or those who die because of celebratory firing” as well as to make “stricter” the process for grant of arms licences.
It contended that “legislating a law proscribing arms in marriage/reception is requisite because in a free society, even our constitutional scheme of freedom curtails the right to assemble with arms under Article 19(1)(b).”
The plea also contended that “carrying of a gun in a marriage procession is illegal under the Arms Act, 1959 and Indian Penal Code 1860” and that even the “terms of license also forbade taking of a gun to a public assemblage”.
Kausal, in his plea, has suggested that the Delhi Police should ensure that no incident of celebratory firing goes “unattended and unpunished”.