SC asks why firecracker ban limited to Delhi-NCR, seeks pan-India policy

The Supreme Court on Thursday raised pointed questions over the selective imposition of the firecracker ban in the Delhi-NCR region, saying if clean air was a right for “elite” residents of the national capital, the same must extend to citizens across the country.

A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran was hearing pleas concerning regulation of firecrackers in the national capital region.

“If cities in NCR are entitled for clean air, why not people of other cities?…Whatever policy has to be there, it has to be on a pan-India basis. We cannot have a policy just for Delhi because they are elite citizens of the country.

“I was in Amritsar last winter and the pollution there was worse than in Delhi. If firecrackers are to be banned, they should be banned throughout the country,” the CJI observed.

Senior advocate Aparajita Singh, the amicus curiae, said, “The elites take care of themselves. They go out of Delhi when there’s pollution.”

The bench asked the Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, to get a detailed report on the issue from the Commission for Air Quality Management.

The law officer said the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) was examining the feasibility of “green crackers” to reduce pollution.

The counsel appearing for firecracker manufacturers suggested NEERI to prescribe permissible chemical compositions, which the industry would then incorporate in the design of crackers.

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However, senior advocate K Parameshwar, representing some parties, expressed concern saying alongside the restrictions, authorities were also cancelling their existing licenses.

The bench remarked there would be status quo with regard to cancellation of fire crackers’ licences by the authorities and posted the matter for September 22.