"Let HC Decide, We Won't Get Into This" : Supreme Court Refuses Urgent Listing For Plea Against Firecrackers Ban In Delhi-NCR

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to grant urgent listing for a matter pertaining to the bursting of green crackers on Diwali. The bench stated that the matter shall be dealt with by the Delhi High Court.

The petitioner in question had earlier approached the Delhi High Court challenging the direction issued by Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) on September 14 for a complete ban on manufacturing, storage, sale and bursting of all kinds of firecrackers till January 1, 2023 in the national capital. The plea was moved by two entities, engaged in storing and selling of green crackers, claiming that there was no reason to include green crackers in the ban.

Mentioning the matter before Chief Justice of India UU Lalit, the counsel for petitioner stated that the Delhi High Court had taken a view that since a similar plea before the Supreme Court was pending, the matter would be heard by the Delhi High Court on 18th October 2022. Stating that Diwali was on 24th October, the counsel prayed for the Supreme Court to intervene in the matter and list it earlier. However, CJI Lalit stated– "Let the High Court decide, we won't get into this."

It may be noted that on October 10, a bench led by Justice MR Shah had considered a petition filed by BJP MP Manoj Tiwari challenging the firecracker ban in Delhi. That petition has been tagged along with a connected matter.

As per the petition, the impugned direction by the DPCC had to be declared ultra vires as being violative of Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India. The petitioners had also sought direction to restrain the Delhi Government as well as DPCC from taking any action against them. Calling the impugned direction as arbitrary and a last-minute ban imposed on the sale and use of green crackers, the plea argues that the action of DPCC affects not on petitioners' livelihood but also other similarly placed sellers.

The plea argues that the order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) dated December 1, 2020 did not envisage a blanket ban of crackers as it was passed in the context of the Covid-19 situation that was prevailing at that time.

"Almost all Covid-19 related restrictions that were in force in December, 2020 have now been relaxed. There is thus no reason that a restriction on the sale and use of fire-crackers remain, especially at a time when the AQI levels in Delhi are at moderate or better levels," the plea reads.