Due to the widespread illegal sale of deadly nylon manja (kite string) in the city, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday ordered concerned police officers to appear in person. The High Court has taken suo motu cognisance of the issue and registered a public interest litigation (PIL). The matter was heard on Tuesday before Justices Anil Kilor and Rajnish Vyas.

 

he court directed senior police officials and Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) officers to remain present during the hearing on Wednesday. Earlier, the High Court had ordered the police and other departments to take action against online platforms like Facebook, Lucky Kite Center, Jio Mart and Just Dial for selling nylon kite string. Facebook later informed the court that it had removed all objectionable content related to nylon kite string. 

 

 

The court also questioned the State Government on the steps taken to stop the sale of nylon kite string. In January 2024, the High Court had directed the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to submit its response on regulating and standardising the kite string industry. The National Green Tribunal had banned the manufacture, sale, use and import of nylon kite string in 2017. Despite this, the string is still being sold openly under different names across states. Police informed the court that nylon threads are sourced mainly from Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh and sold online using different names. GP Devendra Chauhan represented the government, Adv Ravi Sanyal for Pollution Control Board, Adv Deepak Thakre for State Government.