The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the temporary sale of green firecrackers in Delhi and the National Capital Region, as it pronounced its order on a batch of pleas seeking permission to manufacture and sell “green” firecrackers.
The judgment in the case was delivered by a bench comprising Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran, which said the bursting of green firecrackers in Delhi would only be allowed from October 18 to 21.
Chief Justice BR Gavai said, “We have considered the submissions by the Solicitor General and Amicus Curiae. We have observed that there are concerns by the industry. Conventional firecrackers are smuggled, which causes more damage”
“We have to take a balanced approach,” the CJI said, adding, “Out of 22 districts
in Haryana, 14 districts fall in NCR.”
“When the ban was imposed, there was not much difference in the air quality, except during the Covid-19 period,” he said.
“The sale of green firecrackers will be permitted from October 18 to 25. The police authority will constitute a patrolling team to keep an eye on only permitted products with QR codes being sold,” the bench said.
“Violation notice to be attached for persons who violate the rules,” it added.
“The use of firecrackers shall be confined from 6 pm to 10 pm. There shall be no supply of firecrackers from e-commerce websites,” the court said.
On October 10, the Supreme Court had reserved its order on the same, saying that a complete ban on bursting of fire crackers in Delhi-NCR is “neither practical nor ideal” as such restrictions were often violated, and balancing of equities is needed.
Vehement submissions were made seeking the lifting of the blanket ban by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, NCR states. He also said that the children should be allowed to burst crackers on Diwali and other festivals without any time restrictions.
Questioning the blanket ban, which has been in place since 2018 in Delhi-NCR, the bench asked the counsel for the authorities and others as to whether the ban has resulted in any tangible difference or led to a decrease in the air quality index (AQI), an indicator of pollution level.
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