The Supreme Court on Friday reserved its order on a plea seeking the lifting of the ban on green firecrackers in Delhi-NCR. The Chief Justice of India BR Gavai orally indicated that the Court may allow the bursating of green crackers during Diwali, but with regulated time slots.
During the hearing, CJI stated that the Court will revisit the earlier Arjun Gopal judgment while drafting the order and consider suggestions made by the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and other parties.
SG Mehta appeared for NCR states, urged the bench to allow the use of green crackers and not to impose restrictions on the timing of bursting crackers on particular days.
He said: ‘When we were children, one hour would go just convincing parents to let us burst crackers. These are moments of joy.’
Mehta urged the bench to allow the use of green crackers and requested that no time restrictions be imposed on bursting firecrackers.
SG Mehta said that rules approved by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) for the manufacture and labeling of green crackers. He submitted that units found violating the norms would be immediately sealed, and PESO along with NEERI would regularly monitor compliance.
The CJI, however, questioned why the ban was limited to a few districts. He also asked whether pollution levels had improved since 2018.
In response, the SG submitted the Air Quality Index (AQI) has remained largely the same, except during the COVID-19 lockdown period.
In September, the Supreme Court allowed certified manufacturers to produce green firecrackers.
However, the Court had clarified that these green firecrackers cannot be sold in Delhi-NCR.
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