Petitioners breathe a sigh of relief after SC's ruling to ban sale of firecrackers

After the Supreme Court on Monday restored the ban on the sale of firecrackers till 1 November, one of the petitioners and her lawyer expressed their happiness over the ruling.

"All temporary and permanent licences in Delhi to sell firecrackers will stand cancelled forthwith. The Supreme Court also dismissed the application filed by the manufacturers saying that some of their stocks are lying outside and they want to bring it in. There would be no sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR region from today. People, who have already purchased crackers, will be able to burst them. Hopefully they won't do that," lawyer and mother of one of a petitioners, Haripriya Padmanabhan, told ANI.

"Today, the onus is on the Delhi Police to make sure that people don't burst firecrackers," she added.

Meanwhile, a petioner lawyer Pooja Dhar said that the court will take further decision, taking into account the impact on air quality during this period.

"This ban will stay in operation till November 1. The sales of firecrackers can resume from November 1, 2017. The court will take further decision, taking into account the impact on air quality during this period," petitioner's lawyer said.

"The Supreme Court has done this in the hope that prevention of the further sale of the firecrackers will help the Delhi authorities determine the amount and the extent of the air pollution that is caused by them," one of the petitioners, Gauri Rao, said.

Diwali, the festival of lights, is celebrated across India by bursting crackers, leaving the national capital thick with smoke and pollution.

The Supreme Court, earlier on 6 October, had reserved its order on the review petition over lifting the ban on firecrackers.

A three-judge bench of the Apex Court, headed by Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri and comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan and Abhay Manohar Sapre, was hearing the case.

The top court had temporarily lifted its earlier order suspending licence for the sale of fire crackers, on 12 September, saying a complete ban would be an "extreme step" and a graded approach was needed to curb pollution.

The top court also allowed the Delhi Police to issue a licence to shopkeepers for sale of firecrackers, adding that the number of licences issued should not exceed 500.

The top court also made it clear that there would be no firecrackers in the silence zones.

The court also directed to constitute a committee, which will be chaired by the Chairperson of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), consisting of eight other officers to submit a report on the same by 31 December, 2017.

The committee was asked to submit a detailed report regarding the health hazards of firecrackers on people during the festive season, especially on Dussehra and Diwali.

A total of 100 firecracker companies moved the Supreme Court on January 30 seeking modification of its earlier order, which had put a ban on selling of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR.

The Firecracker Association, earlier in December last year moved the apex court, challenging its earlier order of banning firecrackers in Delhi-NCR.

On 25 November last year, the apex court banned the sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR until further notice in wake of the alarming levels of air pollution in the region. 

-ANI