No effective provision to punish, fine nylon manja ban violators: HC

Nagpur: Expressing anguish over failure of the Maharashtra government to prevent rampant use of nylon manja during kite flying season, the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Wednesday tersely observed that there are no deterrent provisions to punish the offenders or to levy hefty fines on them.
“Today’s hearing has made us believe that in the existing legal framework there is no effective provision which imposes appropriate fines and punishments for committing breach of the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) guidelines and also the Environment Act prohibitions.Therefore, a need has arisen for HC to issue necessary guidelines in the matter,” a division bench comprising justices Sunil Shukre and Anil Pansare said.
The observations came while hearing a suo motu PIL based on TOI and other media reports on deaths of 23-year-old engineering student Pranay Thakre and 22-year-old Saurabh Patankar last year after their throats were slit by the deadly strings over roads. Deven Chauhan was appointed as amicus curiae in the PIL.
Earlier, intervenor’s counsel Firdos Mirza pointed out that there is a provision of Section 113 in the Maharashtra Police Act which could be invoked for violating the NGT guidelines. He informed that for illegal kite flying, punishment has been provided under Section 117 of the Act.
“The punishment appears to be quite benign in the present circumstances. Therefore, as stated earlier by us some new provisions would have to be thought of and recommended to the state authorities. We request amicus curiae and lawyers appearing for the respective parties to assist HC in framing these guidelines. They are at liberty to submit the draft guidelines,” the bench said before adjourning the hearing by eight weeks.
Alarmed over rampant use of nylon manja despite a ban, the HC in the last hearing directed 25 respondents, including the collectors of Vidarbha districts and police heads, to constitute special cells for taking strict action against the violators. Those would comprise responsible officers who will work in tandem with respective collectorates and heads of the police department.
The judges directed all respondents to ensure that not only awareness is created about the dangers involved in use of deadly nylon thread or any other synthetic manja for kite flying, but also for taking effective action against the violators as per the NGT’s ban imposed on July 11, 2017.
The amicus earlier brought ot fore that though the government had complied with NGT’s directives, their compliance is hardly seen at the ground level. He pointed out that kite flying while using synthetic manja is rampant and it still goes on without any hindrance.