The Supreme Court while hearing the firecracker ban case Thursday observed that the issue of firecrackers is a temporary issue and that the main matter is related to stubble burning. Acknowledging that the court did not get time to hear the issue, the two-judge bench of Justices MR Shah and AS Bopanna said that they’ll take up the issue for hearing after Diwali vacation.
Sankaranarayanan: It’s dated March 5, 2019.
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) October 28, 2021
Shah J: The main issue of firecracker is only for the time being. But that main matter related to stubble burning, we haven’t got time to deal with that.
After vacation we’ll hear that issue. It’s very urgent #Firecrackers
The Supreme Court made the aforementioned observation while hearing an application alleging violation of the order dated February 10, 2017, banning the use of certain chemicals that were dangerous and beyond the safety limits in the fireworks by the manufacturers.
“We want to send a message that we are here to protect the rights of people. We have not put a 100 per cent ban on firecrackers. Everybody knows what the people of Delhi are suffering”, observed the bench.
As observed by the apex court, stubble burning in neighbouring states like Punjab and Haryana is one of the route causes for the deteriorating pollution levels in the national capital.
Stubble burning in Punjab causes Delhi air quality to dip to ‘very poor’
While Arvind Kejriwal continued his crackdown on the Hindu festival on the pretext of pollution management, OpIndia had reported how the air quality in the national capital had deteriorated to ‘very poor’, after farmers in Punjab started the yearly ritual of stubble burning.
According to SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research), the share of stubble burning in Delhi’s pollution has gone up to 14%.
Arvind Kejriwal govt issues bans on firecrackers during Diwali
Meanwhile, on the occasion of this year’s Diwali festival too, the Kejriwal government in Delhi has issued a complete ban on firecrackers in the name of pollution control. While the Delhi Police initiated a crackdown on the sale and distribution of firecrackers this festive season after the Kejriwal-led government imposed a complete ban on the sale and bursting of all forms of firecrackers till January 1, 2022, the firecracker sellers had slammed the Delhi government’s reckless decision saying: “If Diwali will not be celebrated in India then do we expect it to be celebrated in Pakistan?”
Are we celebrating a festival or mourning someone’s death? We have to beg the Supreme Court to allow us to sell crackers on Diwali living in India,” a trader had said responding to Kejriwal’s decision.
The furious sellers had also questioned the AAP government that how is just a single-day festival responsible for causing pollution in the capital city.
