LAHORE – The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday dismissed a petition challenging the proposed 10-day Basant celebrations in 2027.
Justice Shahram Sarwar Chaudhry heard the case filed by citizen Shahid Islam against 10-day Basant celebrations in 2027.
The court directed the petitioner to file a fresh application accompanied by the relevant government notification.
During the hearing, the judge asked the petitioner’s counsel whether they had produced any official notification confirming the government’s decision to hold Basant celebrations for 10 days in 2027.
The judge questioned how the petition could be entertained without an official notification. The judge observed that the court could not issue an order solely on the basis of documents available on a website.
The court further observed that, without the relevant notification, it could not determine whether holding Basant violated fundamental human rights. It said the official document was necessary before the government could be asked to respond to the matter.
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The judge also expressed surprise that the registrar’s office had not raised an objection to the petition and questioned the petitioner’s counsel about why a fine should not be imposed.
The petitioner argued that the government had issued a notification regarding Basant 2027 but had failed to establish standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the event.
The petition further claimed that dozens of people had died during the Basant celebrations held in 2026. It asked the court to declare the announcement of the 2027 celebrations unlawful and direct the government to reduce the festival’s duration from 10 days to just one day.
The court dismissed the petition as premature in the absence of the relevant notification, while allowing the petitioner to approach it again with the required document.
