The Supreme Court on Thursday said it would on Friday hear a plea seeking restoration of its last year’s order banning firecrackers in Delhi-NCR.
The plea has also sought recall of last month’s SC verdict which had temporarily lifted the order of November 11, 2016, suspending permanent licences for sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR. The matter came up for hearing before a Bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and Ashok Bhushan and lawyer Gopal Shankarnarayanan, appearing for the petitioner, said last year’s order should continue.
The SC had then suspended all licences which “permit sale of fireworks, wholesale and retail within the territory of NCR”.
Mr. Shankarnarayanan told the Bench that the top court had on September 12 this year temporarily lifted its earlier order on the applications filed by some firecracker manufacturers.
He said when the court had passed the order last year, it had already considered the submissions of the firecracker manufacturers and it was admitted that firecrackers was one of the reasons for the rise of pollution in Delhi-NCR.
‘Ban should continue’
“What modification you are seeking,” the Bench asked. “We are seeking recall of this [September 12] order and restoration of the earlier order of November 2016,” the lawyer said, adding “the ban order of 2016 should continue”.
However, the Bench observed the matter had “progressed from time to time” after the order was passed in November last year.
The government said they have come out with a plan to sensitise schoolchildren about the hazards of breathing polluted air.
