Supreme Court Bans Firecrackers in Delhi

The Supreme Court has banned the sale of firecrackers in Delhi and the National Capital Region.

A Bench of Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur and Justices A.K. Sikri and S.A. Bobde ordered a ban on the issuance of fresh licences to firecracker sellers and suspended the existing ones till further orders.

The ban was imposed on the basis of a petition filed last year by three children of Delhi immediately after Deepavali.

Arjun Gopal, Aarav Bhandari and Zoya Rao Bhasin, represented by senior advocate K.K. Venugopal and advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, told the Supreme Court that 40 per cent children in Delhi suffered from respiratory diseases.

Ruling would mean that any sale, purchase or stocking of firecrackers here would be rendered illegal. Smuggling in firecrackers from other States for use in Delhi and NCR would also be illegal and in contempt of the court order.

The Bench asked the Central Pollution Control Board to study the materials used to manufacture crackers and report back in three months on the harm they cause to humans and the atmosphere.