SC to hear tomorrow plea to restore ban on firecrackers in NCR

NEW DELHI: With Diwali around the corner, the Supreme Court today said it would tomorrow hear a plea seeking restoration of its last year's order banning firecrackers in the Delhi-National Capital Region.

The plea has also sought recall of last month's apex court verdict which had temporarily lifted the order of November 11, 2016, suspending permanent licences for sale of firecrackers in the Delhi-NCR.

The matter came up for hearing before a bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan and lawyer Gopal Shankarnarayanan, appearing for the petitioner, said last year's order should continue.

The apex court had then suspended all licences which "permit sale of fireworks, wholesale and retail within the territory of NCR".

During the brief hearing, Shankarnarayanan told the bench that the top court had on September 12 this year temporarily lifted its earlier order on the applications filed by some firecracker manufacturers.

He said when the court had passed the order last year, it had already considered the submissions of the firecracker manufacturers and it was admitted that firecrackers was one of the reasons for rise of pollution in Delhi-NCR.

"What modification you are seeking," the bench asked.

"We are seeking recall of this (September 12) order and restoration of the earlier order of November 2016," the lawyer said, adding "the ban order of 2016 should continue".

However, the bench observed the matter had "progressed from time to time" after the order was passed in November last year.

"We will hear it tomorrow," the bench said.

The Delhi government said that as directed by the court on September 12, they have came out with a plan of action to sensitise and educate school children about the health hazards and ill-effects of breathing polluted air, including the pollution caused by the fireworks.

The counsel representing the Delhi government said they would file an affidavit in this regard later today.

The apex court had last month temporarily lifted its earlier order suspending licences for sale of fire crackers in the NCR, saying a complete ban would be an "extreme step" and a graded approach was needed to curb pollution caused by them.

The court, however, had said its order lifting the ban on sale of fire crackers might require a "review" after Diwali depending on the ambient air quality after the festival.

Besides passing several directions, it had also set up a committee to study the impact of the firecrackers on health of Delhi'ites during the upcoming festivals and directed the police to slash by half the number of temporary licences this year compared to last year and cap it at 500.