What Steps Taken To Ban Non-Green Firecrackers, SC Asks Centre

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre to apprise it of measures taken to strengthen the protocols to ban the production and sale of non-green firecrackers across the country.

“It becomes mockery unless we have a mechanism to make them (manufacturers and the sellers) conform to the guidelines,” the bench said.

A bench comprising Justices A S Bopanna and MM Sundresh asked the Centre and regulatory bodies, to inform it about steps that can be taken to implement the regulatory mechanism to enforce the ban on prohibited firecrackers.

During the hearing  Senior advocate Shyam Divan, who appeared for some of the manufacturers, said expert bodies like PESO, CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) and the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) have dealt with the issue of green crackers and now quality control was the only thing remaining to be addressed.

The expert bodies have come out with guidelines and the chemical formulae of green crackers, and now PESO will be allowed to monitor the production and sale, he added

ASG Bhati who appeared for Centre government said expert bodies like PESO have taken a string of decisions on green crackers.

The bench then asked the additional solicitor general to apprise it of measures for strengthening the regulatory protocols, and fixed the plea for further hearing on September 13.

The supreme court had in October 2021 said though there was no blanket ban on use of firecrackers, those containing Barium salts will remain prohibited.

The top court was hearing a PIL filed on behalf of Arjun Gopal in 2015 seeking a complete ban on production and sale of firecrackers.