Supreme Court refuses to lift Delhi govt's ban on firecrackers

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the Delhi government's order banning storage, sale, and use of all types of firecrackers till January 1, 2023 to check pollution levels in the national capital.

A bench of Justices M R Shah and Krishna Murari expressed concern over pollution levels during Diwali.

"You're a permanent resident of NCR, right? Have you seen the pollution? We do not want to add to the pollution. We are not dismissing your plea, we will consider it," the bench told advocate Shashank Shekhar Jha, appearing for BJP MP Manoj Tiwari.

The lawyer insisted in the court that the air pollution was due to stubble burning.

The top court tagged the petition along with the main matter and said it will come up for hearing before Diwali.

Contending that freedom of religion cannot be taken away under the pretext of the right to life, Tiwari has also sought directions to all states not to take any coercive action like lodging FIR against common people found selling or using permissible firecrackers during the festival season including Diwali.

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The top court had last year clarified there is no blanket ban on the use of firecrackers and only those fireworks which contain barium salts are prohibited.

The BJP MP, in his plea filed through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, has said several state governments and certain high courts had in 2021 passed orders contrary to the stand taken by the apex court and imposed a blanket ban on firecrackers.

"With so many different orders, directions and views, it was confusing for the people at large to understand whether the firecrackers were allowed or not despite this court's refusal to put a blanket ban," said in the plea.

"In the name of right to life, freedom of religion cannot be taken away and that a balance has to strike like that has been done through the decision of this court dated October 29, 2021," it said.

The petition alleged that despite clear orders of the top court, certain states and Union Territories did not take necessary steps to ensure proper arrangements for the celebration of Diwali and instead registered FIRs and imposed curfew.

"The chief secretaries, police commissioners, police district superintendents, station house officers, and others in order to comply with the orders of their respective state governments have taken action against the common people who while purchasing the firecrackers did not even have knowledge about the ingredients of the crackers at all," it said.

Tiwari's plea said such arrests and FIRs sent out a "very bad message" to the society at large and unnecessarily created "fear and anger" among the masses.