BENGALURU: The police are planning to strictly enforce the Supreme Court-mandated time restrictions on bursting crackers during the four-day Deepavali festival. They will book festival revellers as well as political party members who burst crackers to celebrate the victory of their candidates in the bypolls outside the declared hours of 8 pm to 10 pm.
Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar told Express on Monday that there would be no leeway for anyone. “If anyone is found bursting crackers outside the stipulated time, they will be booked for creating public nuisance. We will look at the situation while attending to the complaint. If the person found bursting crackers is a minor and the child is with an adult, then action will be initiated against the adult,” he said.
The same rules will apply to political parties, according to Additional Commissioner (East) Seemanth Kumar Singh. “Crackers are crackers; we will not make a distinction on why they are bursting crackers. Action will be taken on everyone if the rules are not followed,” he said.
The recent Supreme Court order made it mandatory for all states to enforce a cracker ban save for a 2-hour window, which the states had the discretion to choose. Karnataka announced on Saturday that crackers are permitted to be burst only between 8 pm and 10 pm.
Public nuisance, mentioned under Section 268 of the IPC, lists out punishments ranging from a fine under Section 290 or imprisonment and fine under Section 291, which is applicable if the nuisance continues even after a public servant has issued an injunction not to continue the act. In this case, since the ban is ordered by the apex court, the police could apply this section leading to imprisonment up to 6 months if the situation warrants, a lawyer said.