The Supreme Court on Tuesday refrained from imposing a complete ban on firecrackers, even while emphasising that the right to health of millions is far more important than averting an economic loss to the firecracker industry.
“When the court is called upon to protect the right to life, economic effect of a particular measure for the protection of such right to health will have to give way to this fundamental right,” a Bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and Ashok Bhushan observed in their 54-page judgment. They also acknowledged that the State actually suffered an equal, if not greater, economic loss if a hazardous industry or bursting of crackers ended up causing a rash of ailments in the community.
The firecracker industry, strongly backed by the Tamil Nadu government, had argued that there was no definite study to show that bursting of crackers worsened the air quality during festivals such as Deepavali.
The industry argued that the revenue from the manufacture and sale of fireworks came to ₹6,000 crore a year. “Such a revenue to the State as well as employment on which five lakh families sustain cannot be put in jeopardy by imposing a total ban. It is emphasised that there is a necessity to adopt a balanced approach,” the cracker manufacturers had argued.
The judgment said though the right to health was part of the fundamental right to life under Article 21 and assumed “greater importance,” the “endeavour” of the court right now was to strive for a balance between the right to public health and the right to occupation of the industry.
