In its appeal against this order, the State government submitted that the order was passed on a petition that did not even seek such a direction from the Court. The State submitted that the direction of the single-judge is an omnibus direction and one that was not warranted by any factual or legal circumstances.
The order was also not preceded by any finding to the effect that crackers were being illegally stored in religious places, nor were their any pleadings to that effect, the appeal stated.
The State government has also taken issue with the singe-judge’s observation that there is no commandment in any holy book to burst crackers to please god.
In this regard, it was contended that the observation was made without any inquiry into whether there is any such custom/tradition or whether it is an essential religious practice.
“There are many a religious festival/event in the State, wherein the display of fireworks is an essential part of and have been carried out since time immemorial. These festivals, apart from being socio-religious events, result in a conglomeration of residents of the State cutting across class, creed, community and religion thereby enriching the secular fabric and multi cultural environment of the State and also attracts local, national and international tourists in large numbers,” the appeal stated.
Source: Barandbench
