Supreme Court to Hear Plea on Restoring Firecracker Ban

Representative image. (Photo Credit: PTI )

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said it would next month hear a plea, seeking restoration of its November 2016 order, banning firecrackers in the national capital.

The apex court, in its September 12 order, had temporarily lifted its last year’s order suspending the permanent licences for sale of firecrackers in the National Capital Region (NCR).

The matter was on Friday mentioned before a bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud when it was about to rise for the day.

The court was told that the plea was taken up for hearing before another bench which refused to hear the same.

Earlier in the day, the plea came up for hearing before a bench of Justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta, which said that “the matter will go before some other bench.”

The fresh plea was filed by one Arjun Gopal seeking a recall of the recent order permitting the sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR, which the bench said will be heard in the first week of October.

The apex court had on September 12 temporarily lifted the ban on the sale of firecrackers but had said this order might require a “review” after Diwali depending on the ambient air quality after the festival.

It had also set up a committee to study the impact of the firecrackers on the 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.

The apex court had on November 11 last year suspended all licences which “permit the sale of fireworks, wholesale and retail within the territory of NCR”.