The Supreme Court of India, on Friday, stood firm on its decision to continue the ban on firecrackers, turning down the appeal by firecracker manufacturers for the inclusion of barium in green crackers. The bench, led by Justices A.S. Bopanna and M.M. Sundresh, made it clear that the court’s earlier directives, which barred the use of barium-based chemicals in firecrackers, remain in force.
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“We are dismissing two applications seeking the manufacture and sale of firecrackers containing barium and joint firecrackers. We have not interfered with the 2018 directions and reiterated them,”
the bench articulated, while also extending Diwali greetings.
This decision is a follow-up to the court’s 2018 landmark ruling that only allowed the bursting of green firecrackers within the Delhi-NCR region in an effort to combat pollution. The bench underscored the necessity for authorities to adhere to the court’s orders, signaling no relaxation in the fight against air pollution.
The application in question was filed by the Tamil Nadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufacturers Association, which had proposed the court to approve an improved formula for green firecrackers, a development by the CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI).
In a prior session, the Supreme Court had suggested to the Delhi Police that prosecuting individuals for bursting firecrackers might not be the ultimate solution. Instead, the court emphasized the need to trace and cut off the sources supplying these banned items.
Despite the ban, the Delhi Police’s statistics reveal a significant number of cases involving firecrackers. Between 2016 and August 31, 2023, 926 cases were registered for the sale and storage of firecrackers, with 3,120 cases for bursting them. Arrests were made in large numbers, with 2,616 individuals detained for bursting crackers and 740 for their sale and storage. The police also confiscated 51,692.413 kg of firecrackers in Delhi during this period.
The Supreme Court’s steadfast decision highlights the ongoing challenge of enforcing the ban on firecrackers and the broader issue of pollution control. It also reflects the court’s stance that the duty to curb pollution is not solely the judiciary’s responsibility but a collective one that spans across various arms of governance and the public.
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