On Friday, the Supreme Court granted conditional permission for the manufacturing of green firecrackers in the National Capital Region (NCR), emphasizing that their sale within Delhi-NCR remains prohibited. The Bench, comprising Chief Justice of India BR Gavai, Justice K Vinod Chandran, and Justice NV Anjaria, allowed certified manufacturers with approvals from the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) to resume production.
"In the meantime, we permit the manufacturers who are having the certification of green crackers as certified by the NEERI as well as PESO to manufacture. However, this will be subject to an undertaking by the manufacturers to this court that until further orders passed by this court, they would not sell any of their crackers in the prohibited areas," the Apex court observed, while posting the matter for further hearing on October 8.
The Court directed the Centre to submit a detailed proposal reviewing the existing absolute ban on the manufacture of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR, after consultations with all relevant stakeholders, including the Delhi government and firecracker manufacturers. The Bench highlighted the practical challenges of enforcing a total prohibition, citing past experiences with complete bans that have proven difficult to implement. Drawing a parallel, it noted, "It has been experienced, that inspite of there being a complete ban on crackers, the ban could not be implemented. It gave the instance of Bihar that the complete ban on mining in Bihar had led to the rise of illegal mining mafias."
Senior Advocate Aparajita Singh, appearing as amicus curiae, argued in favor of a full ban on firecracker manufacturing to prevent circumvention of the existing prohibition. The manufacturers, represented by counsel, proposed compliance mechanisms including public declaration of production quantities and adherence to safety norms. Responding to these submissions, the Court remarked, "What is the problem in allowing them to manufacture if they follow norms. There has to be solution. Extreme orders will create problems... So let them manufacture and let there be no sale in NCR till further orders..."
Source ANI
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