New Delhi. Today, after hearing the arguments of all the parties, the Supreme Court reserved its decision in the case of ban on sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR. On behalf of the Delhi government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta adopted a balanced approach and recommended allowing the sale of green firecrackers. During the hearing, on behalf of the states falling under NCR, a demand was made to the Supreme Court that permission should be given to burn green firecrackers for 2 hours. It also said that only green crackers certified by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute and the Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organization should be sold.
Supreme Court Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran’s bench asked the Solicitor General whether Delhi’s air quality (AQI) has improved after the ban on firecrackers. On this, Tushar Mehta said that the air quality had improved only during Covid, at present the AQI is almost the same as before. Whereas the lawyers of other petitioners argued that the cause of pollution is not only firecrackers but also burning of stubble and smoke emanating from vehicles and factories. Justice K Vinod Chandran said that the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute and the Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organization have given green certificates to only 49 firecracker manufacturers.
On this, SG Tushar Mehta said, only these producers should be allowed to sell green firecrackers. He also demanded immediate sealing of firecracker manufacturing sites which are violating the rules. At the same time, the lawyer of another petitioner informed the court that due to the pollution in Delhi, firecrackers were banned in 14 cities of Haryana, 8 of UP and 2 of Rajasthan and even the hearing in these states was not held. After hearing all these arguments, the bench has reserved its order.
