Supreme Court: Set aside the order of complete ban on firecrackers in Bengal, Calcutta High Court's decision dismissed

The Supreme Court on Monday set aside the order of the Calcutta High Court that prohibited the use of firecrackers in West Bengal during the celebrations of Kali Puja, Diwali, Chhath Puja, Jagadhatri Puja, Guru Nanak Jayanti, Christmas, and New Year's Eve. was banned outright. A vacation bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Ajay Rastogi said the Supreme Court has already passed an order regulating the use of firecrackers that contain polluting materials. The bench said there cannot be a complete ban on firecrackers.

The bench observed, "There can be different types of people but that does not mean there should be a complete ban. We have to strengthen the mechanism against the use of banned substances like Barium Salt. There cannot be a complete ban on firecrackers. The Supreme Court had banned the use of barium salt in firecrackers, while permitting the use of green firecrackers in the orders of the year 2018, July, and October 2021.

The Calcutta High Court had imposed a complete ban on firecrackers on the ground that it would be practically impossible for the executive to identify and take action against the violators as there is no mechanism to segregate green crackers and enforce the law. It is an impossible task for the agencies involved.

The bench said that the order of the top court is equally applicable to all the states and West Bengal cannot be an exception. The top court said, "This is not a new issue. The Supreme Court has already passed the order. It should be implemented uniformly. Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for the state of West Bengal, submitted before the bench that the state was faithfully complying with the apex court's order in 2018 regarding the use of green crackers.

He informed that the police are monitoring the situation and in fact, in the year 2018 24 FIRs were registered and 46 arrests were made, in 2019 there were 22 FIRs and 26 arrests, in 2020 there were 190 FIRs and 243 arrests, and this year seven FIRs were made. And 10 arrests have been made. At the same time, senior advocate Siddharth Bhatnagar, appearing for an association of firecrackers manufacturers and dealers, said that they are complying with the orders of the apex court passed in 2018, 2020 and on October 29 this year which said that there is a complete ban on firecrackers. Not there.

The apex court took the statements of all on record and set aside the order of the High Court. The Calcutta High Court on October 29, 2021, had imposed a complete ban on the use of all types of firecrackers in West Bengal this year because of the COVID pandemic situation in the state and the deteriorating air quality.