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Citing Supreme Court judgments on green firecrackers, a plea challenged the Delhi Pollution Control Board’s direction for a complete ban on manufacturing, storage, sale and bursting of all firecrackers in the NCR before the Delhi High Court on Wednesday
Justice Yashwant Varma was hearing the plea filed by two sellers of green crackers with registered licences under the Explosives Act against a September 14 direction of the DPCC that states that “there will be a complete ban on all kinds of firecrackers on manufacturing, storage, selling (including delivery through online marketing platforms) and bursting upto 01.01.2023 in the territory of NCT of Delhi”. The direction has been challenged on the grounds that it is arbitrary and that a last-minute ban imposed on the sale and use of green crackers affects the livelihood of the petitioners and other similarly placed sellers, therefore, infringing Articles 14 and 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution. The petitioners have further prayed that the impugned direction be quashed and the respondents be restrained from taking any action against the petitioners.
Justice Varma has asked the parties about the status of a similar plea before the Supreme Court pursuant to which the counsel for the government of NCT of Delhi submitted that he will check the status and appraise the court on the next date of hearing.
The petitioners have challenged the petition on the grounds that the Supreme Court has allowed the use of green crackers in multiple orders and the plea states that “besides the above, the court has also set aside orders of the Telangana and Calcutta High Courts, which imposed blanket bans on the sale of all fire-crackers”.
The plea states that the 2020 order by the National Green Tribunal did not envisage a blanket ban of crackers of all time to come and was passed in the context of Covid that was prevailing at that time. The plea further states that most of the Covid restrictions that were in force in December 2020, have now been relaxed, thus “there is 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 matter is next listed on October 7.
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