NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today reserved its verdict on the crucial issue whether firecrackers would be sold in Delhi-National Capital Region during the upcoming festive season of Diwali.
The apex court, after a hearing of over one-and-half-hour on a plea seeking restoration of its last year's order banning the sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR, reserved its order and said it would "try" to deliver the judgement on Monday.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) told a bench headed by Justice A K Sikri that they "support" the plea and seek restoration of the apex court's November 11, 2016 order.
The top court, through its last year order, had suspended all licences which "permit sale of fireworks, wholesale and retail within the territory of NCR".
On September 12 this year, the apex court had temporarily lifted its earlier order and permitted sale of firecrackers. During the hearing, advocate Gopal Shankarnarayanan, appearing for petitioner Arjun Gopal, told the bench that the ban on use of firecrackers should be restored as the NCR had witnessed a huge rise in air pollution during and after Diwali last year. He said the rise in air pollution during last Diwali was because of several reasons, including the extensive use of firecrackers. He said the main worry was about the level of particulate matter (PM) 2.5 in the air which causes serious health hazards for people, including children who are the most vulnerable.
Seeking recall of last month's order, Shankarnarayanan argued there was a "misdirection" as the top court was dealing with the plea of firecracker manufacturers but it passed the order which also concerned the issue of licences. He referred to an earlier report of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and said that 13 Indian cities were named in the list of 20 most-polluted cities in the world.
Advocate Vijay Panjwani, appearing for the CPCB, said they supported the petitioner's plea. "I am not opposing the petitioner," he said, adding "the November 11, 2016 order must be restored".
The counsel, appearing for the permanent licencees selling crackers, opposed the plea and said the September 12 order temporarily lifting the ban, was "well-reasoned" and passed after hearing all the parties, including the CPCB. He argued that all aspects raised by the petitioner now were considered by the apex court while passing the order last month and though firecrackers impacted air quality, it was "not the greatest cause of PM 2.5". He also referred to the CPCB's data of air quality after Dussehra last month, saying despite the fact that firecrackers were used in burning the effigy of Ravana, the PM 2.5 level had not gone up.
"Firecrackers are not a great culprit for PM 2.5. It might be other things," the counsel argued, adding the rise in air pollution during Diwali was also due to crop burning in the neighbouring states of Delhi. He asked "is it only in Delhi that firecrackers contribute to PM 2.5 and not in other places? Diwali is celebrated in the entire country".
However, the bench observed, "if everybody will come and say that we contribute so less, then why so much of pollution is there?" The counsel for permanent licencees selling crackers said that "most pollution by firecrackers were caused due to the use of Chinese firecrackers".
The petitioner contended that lives of around five crore people residing in Delhi-NCR should not be put to a risk due to severe air pollution caused by the firecrackers during the festive season.
The apex court had last month temporarily lifted its earlier order suspending licences for sale of fire crackers, 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.