SIVAKASI WEATHER
Chinese firecrackers raise smoke, Madras HC orders CBI probe

28-09-2014
28th September 2014

Chinese firecrackers raise smoke, Madras HC orders CBI probe

Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu has suffered major loss due to the dumping of Chinese crackers

Chennai : Even as the diplomatic euphoria over Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent Indian visit is yet to die down, the Madras High Court’s Madurai Bench on Thursday ordered a probe by the CBI into the illegal dumping of Chinese firecrackers in India.

Manufacturers of fireworks in India’s cracker hub of Sivakasi in southern Tamil Nadu, which is hailed as a Little Japan, have been ruing that they have suffered a huge business loss ahead of Diwali due to the dumping of Chinese crackers.

While the issue was recently taken up with Union Minister of State for Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman, a Sivakasi-based man Muthukrishnan moved the Madras High Court seeking a probe into the illegal import of Chinese crackers. Recently, the police in Sivakasi had raided a warehouse where huge consignments of Chinese fireworks were illegally stocked up.

The counsel for the petitioner alleged that crackers manufactured in the land of the dragon were being sold across the country for throwaway prices affecting the traditional manufacturers from Sivakasi. He pointed out that as year as 2002, the Director of Foreign Trade had issued a communication to the Customs Department to treat Chinese crackers as ‘explosive items’. Despite, this the flow of crackers from India’s northeastern neighbour has not stopped. In fact, the Noida police had seized 600 containers of Chinese fireworks. These crackers were also being smuggled into the country through the Nepal border by road.

The HC bench pointed out that various cases of illegal sales of Chinese crackers have been registered in many parts of India and since the police has limited jurisdiction it would be appropriate for a central agency like the CBI to probe the issue which has a bearing on the Indian economy.

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