The apex court has ruled that crackers considered to be safe and green will be permitted for manufacturing, sale and use
The Supreme Court on October 23 refused to declare a complete ban on firecrackers across the country. The apex court said that crackers considered to be safe and green will be permitted for manufacturing, sale and use.
Firecrackers can be sold only through licenced operators and cannot be sold online, the top court ruled. Firecrackers containing barium salt and others producing lot of noise were banned by the court.
The court verdict is not only confined to Diwali. The court has said that the firecrackers can only be used between 8.00 pm and 10.00 pm during Diwali and between 11.45 pm and 12.45 am during Christmas and New Year.
The verdict was delivered by a bench of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan which had reserved its verdict on August 28.
The apex court had earlier said there is a need to take into account all aspects, including the fundamental right of livelihood of firecracker manufacturers and the right to health of over 1.3 billion people in the country, while considering a plea for the ban.
The top court had said Article 21 (right to life) of Constitution applies to both segments of people and it needs to maintain a balance while considering a countrywide ban on firecrackers.
On October 9, 2017, SC had temporarily banned the sale of firecrackers ahead of Diwali.
Later, the court refused to relax its order while dismissing a plea by traders who had sought permission to sell crackers for at least a day or two before Diwali on October 19, 2017.
Also read | DATA STORY: A dummy's guide to how many cigarettes you 'unwittingly' smoke during Diwali
Smoke emitting from firecrackers are considered hazardous. A string of 1,000 crackers, popularly known as 'laad', can be as dangerous as smoking over 270 cigarettes.
The black-coloured pellet, which spews out a 'snake', when lit can be as harmful inhaling smoke from as 464 cigarettes.
