Punjab Faces Legal Challenge Over Basant Revival

A petition was filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday challenging the Punjab government’s decision to revive the Basant festival through an ordinance, nearly 18 years after the kite-flying event was banned due to fatal incidents.

The Judicial Activism Panel (JAP) submitted the petition through Advocate Azhar Siddique, arguing that the provincial government issued the ordinance despite the Punjab Assembly being in session.

The petition stated that kite flying has caused numerous deaths in the past and that the Supreme Court has previously ruled against the activity.

It warned that lifting the ban could again endanger lives, noting that the Constitution guarantees the protection of citizens’ lives and property.

The petition also recalled that last year, PML-N President Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz had visited the family of a man who died after a kite string slit his throat in Faisalabad, where the chief minister called Basant a “bloody sport”.

The petitioner urged the court to declare the ordinance an abuse of the governor’s powers under Article 128 and to nullify both the law and the government notification permitting kite flying.

Punjab Government Defends ‘Safe, Regulated’ Basant

Meanwhile, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari defended the revival, insisting that Basant would be “completely safe, regulated, and strictly monitored”.

She said the government had eliminated the production and sale of metallic and chemically coated kite string, with violations now punishable by three to five years in prison and fines up to Rs2 million.

Children caught violating the Kite Flying Act would face fines of Rs50,000 for the first offence and Rs100,000 for the second.

String manufacturers and sellers must now register and use QR-coded identification on every roll.

Bokhari added that motorcyclist safety measures had also been strengthened under new traffic laws aimed at preventing injuries during the festival.

The minister also stressed that minors would not be handcuffed and that upcoming legislation would provide legal protections for underage motorcyclists.