Banned Chinese manjha being sold online? Allahabad HC asks state govt to examine

Lucknow, Jul 15 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday directed the state government to examine whether Chinese 'manjha' (glass-coated kite string), despite being prohibited, is still being sold through online platforms. The Lucknow Bench of the high court said the issue requires serious scrutiny and asked the state to submit its report by July 27. A bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Manjive Shukla passed the order while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) pending since 2018. The court was hearing the PIL filed by M L Yadav, along with two connected petitions filed by one Rajjan Khan seeking a complete ban on the import, manufacture, sale and use of Chinese manjha in the state. During the hearing, the petitioners submitted that despite the existing ban, Chinese manjha continues to be available on e-commerce platforms. The petitioners also cited a newspaper report highlighting the alleged online sale of the banned product. Taking note of the submission, the bench directed the state's counsel to verify the claim and inform the court about the outcome of the inquiry. The development assumes significance as the state government had recently informed the high court that it is in the process of introducing a new legislation titled the Uttar Pradesh Hazardous Manjha (Prohibition of Manufacture, Sale and Use) Act to strengthen enforcement against the dangerous kite string. The proposed law is also expected to include provisions for compensation to persons injured or killed due to Chinese manjha. The court also took on record a short counter-affidavit filed by one of the respondents along with supplementary affidavits submitted by other parties. It directed the state to provide copies of the counter-affidavit to all petitioners and intervenors and permitted the petitioners to file their rejoinders. In compliance with an earlier order, several senior officials, including the director general of police, additional chief secretary (home), principal secretary (state tax), principal secretary (environment), and additional chief secretary (infrastructure and industrial development), appeared before the court through video conferencing during the proceedings. PTI COR ABN KVK KVK