LAHORE, July 22: The City District Government defended the ban on kite-flying in the Lahore High Court on Tuesday, saying that it had saved Wapda losses to the tune of Rs3 million on Sundays alone.

While responding to a petition against the ban on kite-flying, Afzal Khwaja, counsel for the CDG, claimed that kite-flying caused colossal losses as it damaged transformers and grid stations besides consuming millions of rupees on the occasion of Basant, which was “against the spirit of Islam and had become a symbol of extravagance”.

The counsel submitted that prior to the imposition of ban, Wadpa sustained a loss of Rs3.2 million every Sunday, which had now been reduced to Rs0.12 million.

According to the CDG, some 42 casualties had been attributed to kite-flying in Lahore while glass-coated string had left more than 850 citizens injured prior to the enforcement of ban under Section 144 CrPC. There had been no accident due to kite-flying since the imposition of ban, the counsel claimed.

“The district Nazim imposed the ban on the recommendations of Lahore SSP,” he argued, adding that the respondent had announced his intention to impose the ban during a press conference and could not be accused of enforcing it without prior notice.

He refuted the allegation that the ban notification was vague, adding that it also did not contravene the Punjab Dangerous Activities Ordinance 2001. “A business that puts the life and property of people in danger does not merit promotion. It is also against the fundamental rights of citizens regarding protection of their life, liberty and property,” he argued while opposing the petitioner’s argument that the ban had rendered thousands of families associated with businesses related to kite-flying unemployed. He claimed that the decision was made in the best interest of people.

S.M. Masood, counsel for the petitioner, had argued that the ban was an illegal act of the CDG as it could only have been imposed in an emergency. The district government was not authorised to ban kite-flying, he maintained.

As contended by him, under the ordinance governing kite-flying and related activities, only such material could be banned that posed a hazard to life. Before declaring that a particular kind of material was dangerous, the government was supposed to carry out a proper survey besides notifying its intention to impose the ban. However, no such thing happened in this case, he said.

Defending kite-flying, he referred to the LHC ruling that the seasonal festival of Basant could not be banned merely on grounds that it had originated in Hinduism.