Aastha Thakur
Published on: 20 October 2022 at 18:38 IST
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) issued an order on September 14 restricting the manufacturing, storage, sale, and bursting of all firecrackers in the nation’s capital till January 1, 2023. The Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed a plea contesting this order.
According to Justice Yashwant Varma, it would not be appropriate for the High Court to hear the matter while the Supreme Court is still considering the issue.
Two organizations engaged in the storage and sale of green crackers presented the argument that there was no rationale for the DPCC to include green crackers while enforcing a total ban.
The plea asked for a directive to stop the Delhi Government and DPCC from taking any action against them in addition to asking that the impugned direction be ruled extra vires for violating Article 19(1)(g) of the Indian Constitution.
The plea claimed that the DPCC’s decision affects not only the livelihood of the petitioners but also other such operating sellers, and that the impugned order is arbitrary and a last-minute ban on the sale and use of green crackers.
According to the plea, the National Green Tribunal‘s (NGT) order dated December 1, 2020, which was passed in the light of the COVID-19 situation that was in effect at the time, claimed to not have envisaged a blanket ban on fireworks.
Further the plea submitted by the petitioner contended that most of the Covid-19 related restrictions have been lifted already. Hence, there is no such reason to put ban on the sale and use of fire-crackers, the air quality level of Delhi is also moderate or better.”