New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday reversed its earlier order and restored a complete ban on firecrackers for Diwali in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR). The court has allowed sale of firecrackers to begin from November 1, but with conditions. However, there is no ban on bursting of firecrackers in Delhi NCR. The three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri and comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan and Abhay Manohar Sapre, had reserved its order on Friday.
On September 12, the Supreme Court had lifted the ban on the sale of firecrackers in Delhi and the NCR region, but with riders. The top court asked the Delhi Police to issue a licence to shopkeepers for sale of firecrackers, adding that the number of licences issued should not exceed 500. The court has now reversed its earlier order. The court has also ordered suspension of licences that had been issued to sellers after its September 12 order.
The top court had earlier also made it clear that there would be no firecrackers in the silence zones. The court had directed to constitute a committee, which will be chaired by the Chairperson of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), consisting of eight other officers to submit a report on the same by December 31, 2017.
The committee was asked to submit a detailed report regarding the health hazards of firecrackers on people during the festive season, especially on Dussehra and Diwali.
A total of 100 firecracker companies moved the Supreme Court on January 30 seeking modification of its earlier order, which had put a ban on selling of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR. The Firecracker Association, earlier in December last year, moved the apex court, challenging its earlier order of banning firecrackers in Delhi-NCR.
On November 25, 2016, the apex court banned the sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR until further notice in wake of the alarming levels of air pollution in the region.
