Stating that courts are compelled to pass harsh orders in environmental matters "because nobody else is bothered about pollution," the Supreme Court on Friday asked the state governments of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to consider imposing a perpetual ban on the sale and bursting of crackers in their districts which fall within the National Capital Region (NCR). "The state of Rajasthan has imposed a similar ban in perpetuity in terms of the ban imposed by Delhi government under order dated December 19, 2024. The state of Rajasthan has confined the ban to that part of the state which falls in NCR. We direct the states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to consider taking a decision to impose a perpetual ban similar to the one which is imposed by Delhi government.restricted to NCR parts of the state," a bench of Justices A S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said in its order. The two states had already imposed a ban on crackers until Friday (January 17) in the districts falling in the NCR. On Friday, the bench extended this until further orders. Responding to arguments against the ban by a counsel appearing for the Federation of Fireworks Traders, Justice Oka said, "You have to satisfy us that the bursting of firecrackers does not create pollution." He asked if it was the Federation's stand that bursting of firecrackers does not create pollution. The counsel said that "it does create [pollution] but it varies from area to area. Sometimes it's substantial, sometimes absolutely negligible. Even within Delhi, there are still greener areas and there are dangerous areas or alarming areas." The court said that it would hear them at the appropriate time, to which the counsel submitted, "I am suffering now." Justice Oka said, "You can sell it in other parts of India where there is no ban." The counsel, however, said that the national capital and peripheral areas account for a substantial part of their business. He added, "We could demonstrate with the data which has been done by an expert committee constituted by this court." Justice Oka said, "You are also citizens of India. Under Article 51A, it is your responsibility not to do anything which will increase pollution. We make it very clear. In matters of the environment, courts have to pass harsh orders because nobody else is bothered about pollution. We have to pass harsh orders." As the bench said that it would hear the firecracker business owners on March 24, the counsel urged the court to allow them to sell at least green crackers in the meanwhile. But Justice Oka said, "We have to examine how green are the green crackers." The counsel pointed out that in earlier rounds, the court had given a more than 50-page judgment based on an expert report indicating that green crackers are safe. Justice Oka, however, said that the court would not hesitate to change its views if need be, given these are environmental matters. "These are environmental matters. Situation changes and the situation has become so drastic that drastic measures are required. And therefore, if different views require to be taken on the basis of changed circumstances, we will not hesitate to do that."
