Supreme Court sets aside Calcutta HC order putting complete ban on firecrackers in West Bengal

The Supreme Court has set aside the order of the Calcutta High Court regarding firecrackers putting a blanket ban on the sale, purchase and use of all kinds of firecrackers in the state during Kali Puja, Diwali celebrations and some other festivities this year to check air pollution amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

A special bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Ajay Rastogi also asked the West Bengal government to explore the possibility of ensuring that banned firecrackers and related items are not imported into the state at the entry point. The bench sat for hearing on the matter during Diwali vacation.

"There cannot be a complete ban on firecrackers. Strengthen mechanism to supervise and implement (Supreme Court's earlier order)," the court said. The Bench said its order will be applicable to all states uniformly and West Bengal cannot be an exception.

The Supreme Court was hearing petitions against the October 29 decision of the High Court in which it had banned the sale, use and purchase of all types of firecrackers in the state. The appeal filed by the chairman of a West Bengal-based firecracker association and another such group stated that the High Court order was "patently erroneous" in holding a complete ban on firecrackers within West Bengal when the apex court has allowed the use of green firecrackers in permissible limit across all states.

The petitioners have said that they represent the interest of about seven lakh families who are involved in the process of manufacture and sale of fireworks and are involved in the fireworks industry in one manner or another.

They said if a blanket ban is imposed in this season on the sale and use of firecrackers in West Bengal, the sellers and manufacturers will have to suffer irreparable losses which may "lead to a complete shutdown of the firecracker industry altogether".

The High Court had said, "States should ensure that no crackers are burnt or used during Kali Puja, Diwali as well as Chhath Puja, Jagadhatri Puja, Guru Nanak Jayanti and Christmas and New Year's Eve this year."

Last week, the Supreme Court had also clarified that there is no total ban on the use of firecrackers and only those containing Barium salts, chemical crackers or found to be injurious to health are banned. "It is made clear that there is no total ban on the use of firecrackers, only those firecrackers are banned (joined, chemical) which are found to be injurious to health and affect the health of the citizens particularly the senior citizens and the children," said a Bench of Justices MR Shah and AS Bopanna.

During the same hearing, the bench had said that banned chemical firecrackers are being sold in the name of 'green crackers' and the boxes have wrong labels and even the QR codes given on 'green crackers' boxes are said to be fake. The top court said that any lapse in implementing the ban on firecrackers on the part of the states, agencies and union territories will be viewed very seriously. It directed all the States and Union Territories to make proper publicity through electronic-print media and local cable services to make people aware about the directions issued by the court regarding the production, use and sale of banned firecrackers.