Supreme Court expresses concern after report flags unrestricted sale of firecrackers in Delhi

The Supreme Court on Tuesday flagged a newspaper report highlighting the open sale of different kinds of firecrackers in Delhi markets despite restrictions imposed by the Court ahead of Diwali.

A Bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Prasanna B Varale referred to a report published in the Hindustan Times and asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati to look into the alleged violations.

"In today's report on Hindustan Times there's a photograph, they say that notwithstanding yesterday's order, now everything is available in the (firecracker) shops. Please look into it," Justice Sundresh told Bhati.

He further referred to the report's account of different varieties of firecrackers.

"They say that in the market every other cracker, licensed, unlicensed, QR code, or no QR code, everything is available. Please take a note of it," asked Justice Sundresh.

On November 2, the Court allowed the sale of certified green firecrackers in Delhi-NCR from November 4 to 6 and their use on November 7 and 8, subject to restrictions. The firecrackers can be burst only between 6 AM and 7 AM and 8 PM and 10 PM on the two days. A complete ban was directed to be restored from November 9.

The Court had made it clear that only firecrackers certified by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) and the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) could be manufactured and sold.

It also directed that sales be restricted to designated locations and prohibited online sales. Each firecracker box was directed to carry a must product-specific QR code to enable verification of its certification. The manufacture of firecracker strings (laris) and crackers containing barium was also prohibited.

The Hindustan Times report, published on November 3, described firecrackers being sold openly in several Delhi markets. These included Chandni Chowk, Sadar Bazaar, Shastri Nagar, Sarojini Nagar and New Friends Colony.

Based on visits to these markets on October 22 and November 2, the report found that vendors were displaying products labelled as green, pollution-free and zero-pollution crackers, while conventional firecrackers were reportedly available on request.

It also reported that several boxes did not carry QR codes, while some QR codes redirected customers to online catalogues instead of enabling verification of certification. In some instances, vendors allegedly kept conventional firecrackers out of sight and brought them out when customers asked for them.

The Supreme Court has been hearing a batch of applications concerning restrictions on the manufacture, sale and bursting of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR in view of the region's air pollution.

In its latest order, the Court had noted that previous blanket bans had failed to prevent the illegal sale and use of conventional firecrackers. It noted that such products were often being sold under the guise of green firecrackers. It had also expressed concern over the failure of authorities to effectively implement its earlier directions.

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