'Go to High Court' SC dismisses plea to stop Sikhs from carrying Kirpan on flights

The Hindu Sena filed a PIL with the Supreme Court contesting the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security`s decision for Sikhs to carry Kirpan on domestic flights, but it was dismissed. Justices S. Abdul Nazeer and J.K. Maheshwari were on the panel that gave the petitioner organisation the order to approach the appropriate high court. " You go to the High Court. Dismissed, with liberty to approach the High Court " the bench said. Hindu Sena, a group, filed the petition to challenge the exemption the Sikh community had been given by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security.

The petitioner challenged the order issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security on March 4, 2022, which stated that "kirpan" may be carried by only by a Sikh passenger on domestic flights provided the length of its blade does not exceed 15.24 cms (6 inches) and the total length does not exceed 22.86 cms (9 inches).

The plea said: "The liberty granted to the Sikh passengers/ employees/ stakeholders vide the said order appears to be absolute without any consideration for the safety and security of the fellow passengers and employees as stated order does not provide any provision to ascertain that whether the person carrying kirpan in the high security areas like airport and aircraft is an actual Sikh or an imposter with the intention to misuse the above liberty."

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The plea contended that the freedom given to Sikh passengers is arbitrary and a violation of Article 14 and Article 15 with respect to the discrimination made on the basis of religion, as any non-Sikh person is not allowed to carry any object that could be a potential threat to the co-passengers.

With inputs from IANS