Supreme Court Signals Possible Temporary Relief on Delhi-NCR Firecracker Ban for Diwali
Supreme Court Signals Possible Temporary Relief on Delhi-NCR Firecracker Ban for Diwali
In a potentially major development for residents of the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), the Supreme Court has hinted it may temporarily ease the complete ban on firecrackers this Diwali. Any such relaxation, however, would be strictly governed by tight time restrictions in a bid to strike a balance between traditional festivities and critical air quality concerns. A bench led by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran reserved its order on Friday following an extensive hearing. The Court suggested it would contemplate lifting the ban "for the time being" on a trial basis specifically for the five-day period of Diwali, emphasizing that any celebrations would be "confined to certain time limits."
The government has formally proposed several specific, limited windows for firecracker usage: Diwali and other Major Festivals: A two-hour slot from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.; New Year's Eve: A 35-minute window from 11:55 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.; Gurpurab: Two one-hour periods, one in the morning and one in the evening; and Weddings and Private Events: Limited usage subject to specific permission.
A significant challenge was brought to the forefront by Amicus Curiae, senior advocate Aparajita Singh, concerning the widespread sale of "fake green crackers"—products falsely labelled as eco-friendly. These deceitful products, she noted, continue to utilize banned polluting chemicals despite their deceptive marketing. Environmental specialists have consistently voiced that between 2018 and 2020, when a similar policy promoting green firecrackers was active, there was no verifiable decline in air pollution measurements. Their core argument remains that it is "virtually impossible" on the ground to differentiate between genuinely less polluting green crackers and their conventional, heavily polluting counterparts. While green crackers are engineered to generate roughly one-third less pollution than regular fireworks, experts clarify that they are not non-polluting; they merely pollute less.
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