NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to pass an interim order staying the operation of the decision allowing Sikhs to carry kirpans having a blade length of up to 6 inches while travelling on domestic flights.“No stay,” said a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad while seeking the stand of the Centre and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the March 4, 2022 notification in this regard.
The bench asked the respondents to file their response to the petition which seeks the constitution of a committee to examine ‘workable solutions’ to ensure that a kirpan permitted to be carried on the flight is ‘appropriately designed and crafted’ and does not have a blade length beyond 4 cm. The petition said that permitting kirpans on flights has ‘dangerous ramifications for aviation safety’.
(With agency inputs)