LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday sent notices to the Punjab inspector general of police, chief secretary and others in a case related to lifting the 12-year-old ban on Basant festival in the province.
During the hearing of a plea against the Kite Flying Act, the court has directed the parties to submit their replies till Tuesday.
Earlier, the LHC had sought replies from Punjab Minister for Information and Culture Fayyazul Hassan Chohan, chief secretary and IGP Amjad Javed Saleemi.
The petitioner had argued that it was unconstitutional to allow Basant following the Supreme Court’s ruling against it as the “deadly” festival has caused loss of many lives.
The petitioner said that the chief secretary and IGP have not taken sufficient and essential measures to halt kite flying, adding that “it is the contempt of court” not to follow the court’s orders.
However, the lawyer representing the provincial government told the court that the final decision on celebration of Basant was not taken yet but only an opinion in this regard was sought.
It must be mentioned that Chohan had announced the government’s decision to lift the Basant ban, stating that the festival would be held in the second week of February.
