Plea before Delhi High Court against DGCA decision allowing Sikhs to carry Kirpan on flights

The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued notices to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MCA), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and DG, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security on a plea challenging government's decision to allow Sikhs to carry kirpans on domestic flights [Harsh Vibhore Singhal v The Cabinet Secretary of India and Ors]. .A Division Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad gave the authorities eight weeks' time to file their response and listed the case for further consideration on November 15. The court, however, refused to pass any interim order staying the notification. The bench also asked the petitioner to delete the Cabinet Secretary from the array of parties. .The public interest litigation (PIL) was by advocate Harsh Vibhore Singhal challenging the notification dated March 4, 2022 issued by the DGCA giving 'exception regulatory sanction' to people belonging to Sikh community to carry kirpans on civilian flights. .The notification stated that Sikhs will be allowed to carry a kirpan provided the length of its blade does not exceed six inches and its total length is not more than nine inches. A corrigendum was later issued allowing even Sikhs working at the airports to carry kirpan. .The plea argued that carriage of kirpans in a civilian aircraft has dangerous ramification for aviation safety and that there have been several instances in the past where they have used as a weapon to hijack the planes. The plea cited the examples of 1981 and 1984 when such hijacking was carried out and the militants demanded release of prisoners arrested by the government. .It further stated that carrying kirpans in a civilian aircraft has dangerous ramifications for aviation safety and if they are deemed safe only because of religion, one would wonder how knitting needles, coconuts, screwdrivers and small penknives are deemed hazardous and prohibited.“…the exception is not just for Indian citizens. Impugned Notifications do not distinguish applicability to Sikh Indian citizens and Sikhs from other nations can carry Kirpans on person whilst travelling in any Indian plane on domestic routes in India though laws of their respective countries may prohibit carrying of Kirpans in civilian flights there," the plea said.