The Delhi government’s ban on the manufacture, storage, sale, and use of all sorts of firecrackers was made in an effort to reduce pollution in the nation’s capital, and the Supreme Court decided to hear Manoj Tiwari’s appeal against it on Friday.
After attorney Shashank Shekhar Jha brought up Tiwari’s request for an urgent hearing, a bench presided over by Chief Justice of India UU Lalit announced that “it will hear on October 10.”
CJI Lalit stated, “List on October 10, it’s before Diwali.”
Tiwari asked the Aam Aadmi Party administration for instructions on how to create new rules regarding the sale, purchase, and bursting of legal firecrackers during the impending holiday season.
The BJP MP further asked that all States be instructed not to adopt any coercive measures, such as filing FIRs against regular citizens who are caught selling or using legal fireworks.
According to the argument made by attorneys Ashwani Kumar Dubey and Shashank Shekhar Jha, “In the name of Right to Life, Freedom of Religion cannot be taken away and that a balance needs to be struck such that has been done via the ruling of this Court on October 29, 2021.”
The Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that only pyrotechnics that include barium salts are forbidden, and that there is no general prohibition on the usage of firecrackers.
The argument said that the top court had prohibited the use of firecrackers that have been determined to be harmful to health while making it clear that there was no general ban on crackers and that people might use legal firecrackers to celebrate their holiday.
According to the petition, some state governments and high courts issued rulings in 2021 that prohibited the use of firecrackers completely, going against the Supreme Court’s stance.
The petition further stated that despite the top court’s unambiguous directives, some states and union territories failed to make the requisite preparations for Deepawali celebrations and instead filed false police reports and implemented curfews.
The suit claimed that between September 28, 2021, and November 4, 2021, the Delhi government filed 125 FIRs and detained 138 people for selling fireworks while filing 210 FIRs against regular residents and making 143 arrests for setting off fireworks.
On September 7, the AAP-led Delhi government imposed a complete ban on firecrackers in the city until January 1, 2023.
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