Firecrackers available in national capital despite ban: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought a response from the Delhi Police on a plea by cracker manufacturers seeking the roll-out of green firecrackers since the ban on the sale and production of normal firecrackers in Delhi-NCR was imposed by the court in 2018. The apex court also questioned how firecrackers were available in the national capital despite a strict ban.

Read here: Delhi govt bans firecracker sales to curb pollution as part of ‘winter action plan’

A bench of justices AS Bopanna and MM Sundresh was hearing an application by the Tamil Nadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufacturers Association (TANFAMA), an association representing 180 fireworks manufacturers, seeking approval from the court to go ahead with the production of formulations on green crackers as suggested by the Centre. The manufacturers said the entire industry stands frozen due to the ban even as toxic firecrackers under “green” packaging continue to flood the markets.

Green crackers are produced with less harmful raw materials, in accordance with instructions issued by the top court.

“Our concern is, even after the ban, how is it happening... We would like to hear the Delhi Police on this so far as Delhi is concerned,” the bench said and asked the Centre to take instructions within a day. The Delhi Police is the licencing unit for the sale of crackers in Delhi.

Additional solicitor general (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the ministry of environment, forests and climate change, informed the court that an effective mechanism is in place to ensure only green crackers are manufactured by companies licensed by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation. Bhati requested the court to approve the mechanism and bring a finality to the matter. “What we have is a stringent protocol. There are quality controls and checks right at the beginning of the manufacture of the green cracker formulation. If the court is satisfied, the court may approve the mechanism so that there is a finality in this matter,” Bhati said.

The top court had, earlier this month, directed the Centre to indicate the regulatory mechanism to ensure quality control of green firecrackers after the government sought the top court’s approval for its “new and improved” formulation of crackers.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the petitioners, told the court that while the Centre is seeking closure in this matter, evidence on the ground suggests that the court’s ban is being openly flouted. “For four years there has been a ban, yet after Diwali festival every year, we wake up to grey skies. What steps have been taken by the Delhi Police?” Sankaranarayanan argued.

Read here: Fix regulatory mechanism for green crackers: Supreme Court tells Centre

Meanwhile, the court also heard a separate petition filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of Parliament Manoj Tiwari who objected to the ban imposed by the Delhi government on the use and sale of all types of firecrackers in the Capital.

The bench, while dismissing the petition said, “Where there is a ban there is a ban. You go to a state where there is no ban. We are not going to change our orders.”