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Supreme Court order on firecracker ban expected Monday

Appearing for the petitioner, Arjun Gopal, Sankarnarayan submitted that extensive use of firecrackers was one of the reasons for the rise in air pollution during Diwali last year.

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Days before Diwali, the Supreme Court reserved its order on a plea seeking a restoration of the ban on the sale of firecrackers in the Delhi-National Capital Region. In the 2016 order, the apex court had suspended all licences that permitted the wholesale and retail sale of firecrackers within the territory of NCR.

However, last month, the top court modified its order, which though allowing the sale of firecrackers, imposed conditions and restricted the number of licenses issued. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) also supported the plea before a bench headed by Justice AK Sikri.

"It is farcical for the top court to ban fireworks after Diwali, but to restore it before the next Diwali. The ban has not been tested for even one season," Advocate Gopal Sankarnarayan said.

Appearing for the petitioner, Arjun Gopal, Sankarnarayan submitted that extensive use of firecrackers was one of the reasons for the rise in air pollution during Diwali last year.

However, counsels appearing for the permanent licencees selling crackers, opposed the plea and said that the September 12 order lifting the ban was "well-reasoned" and passed after hearing all the parties, including the CPCB.
Firecrackers were not the main culprit resulting in the exponential rise of air pollution, the counsels submitted.

The bench, while reserving the order, said it would try to deliver the verdict on Monday.

The first petition regarding the matter was filed in 1985 by MC Mehta. The September 12 order came on the heels of a 2016 petition, filed on behalf of three toddlers. The petition had stated: "Our lungs have not yet fully developed and we cannot take further pollution through the bursting of crackers."

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