High Court orders police to return at once firecrackers seized from two Kashipur traders; stock was seized from a godown last year two days before their sale permit began

The Uttarakhand High Court has ordered the police to return at once the seized firecrackers of two firecracker traders from Kashipur. According to Hindustan, the single bench of Justice Alok Mehra heard the matter on Thursday and set aside both orders of the lower courts. The two had stored firecrackers in a godown to sell at Diwali; Kashipur Kotwali police seized the firecrackers on October 16, 2025 and arrested both. Their side said they had permission to sell firecrackers from October 18 to 20, 2025, but the police seized the stock two days before the permission period began. Their application for release of the firecrackers was rejected by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate in Kashipur on October 18, 2025, and their revision petition by the sessions court on September 17, 2026. The High Court said a list of the seized firecrackers had already been prepared, so keeping them in police custody served no useful purpose; firecrackers are goods of a seasonal trade and their value can fall sharply once the festival is over. The court also said safety rules on storing and selling firecrackers must be strictly followed.