Supreme Court On Firecrackers Ban: The Supreme Court on Thursday (September 14) expressed concern over bursting of firecrackers in Delhi despite the ban. The court has said that action against those who burst firecrackers is not enough. Delhi Police should find out how they got these firecrackers? The problem will be solved only by taking action on the source.
During the hearing, the issue of approving green crackers i.e. less polluting firecrackers in the country was also discussed. The court has reserved its order on this. Actually, the state government in Delhi has completely banned bursting of firecrackers during Diwali.
In the last few years, despite the ban, people have burst crackers. There has been discussion for a long time that green crackers should be produced and sold in the country, but it is yet to get the approval of the Supreme Court."text-align: justify;">What did the Central Government say?
The Central Government has presented in the court the rules made to prevent adulteration of polluting materials in firecrackers. If the court approves this, then the sale of firecrackers will be possible even in many areas where the administration had not given licenses to shopkeepers last year.
What arguments were given?
During the hearing, senior lawyer Shyam Divan, appearing for the firecracker manufacturers, informed Justices AS Bopanna and MM Sundaresh about the new firecrackers. He told that NEERI i.e. National Environmental Engineering Research Institute has prepared the formula for manufacturing firecrackers with limited quantity of barium."text-align: justify;">This will reduce pollution significantly. However, petitioner’s lawyer Gopal Shankaranarayan strongly opposed this. He demanded that the use of barium should not be approved at all.
What did the petitioner and Delhi Police say?
The petitioner also raised the issue of use of firecrackers despite the ban in Delhi-NCR. He said that the common people suffer the most due to pollution.
On this, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for Delhi Police, said that since 2016 till now, license for sale of firecrackers has not been given in Delhi. Large quantities of firecrackers are also confiscated every year, but judges have described this action as inadequate.