Ahead of the festival of lights, the Delhi High Court on Thursday compared firecrackers with arms, saying their use often results in incidents of fire and injury. The court made the observation while dismissing a woman’s writ petition challenging the rejection of her application for a temporary licence to sell crackers in the Capital.
“Firecrackers are capable of causing harm like an arm within the meaning of Arms Act. Owing to less stringent control on use, firecrackers are available far more easily than an arm and are rampantly used,” said the Bench of Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw.
The court noted that the hospitals in the city had to gear up for the “onslaught” of firecrackers and be in a state of preparedness on the night of Diwali. “Certainly, no one can claim a right to burst firecrackers at the cost of [causing] injury to another.”
The Judge said there was a public outcry over the bursting of firecrackers and that they did not enjoy any religious sanctity. Crackers not only adversely affect the environment, but also cause various ailments, said the Court.
The Delhi Police issues temporary licences for sale of fireworks and crackers on public roads on Diwali under the provisions of the Explosives Act, 1884, and the rules framed under it.
The court said that licence for sale of firecrackers should be granted by following rational criteria, while refusing to interfere with the Delhi Police Commissioner’s decision to refuse temporary fireworks licence to Manisha Sharma.
The Judge also put a word of caution for the police, reminding them that refusal of licence to the petitioner should not be taken as a freedom to choose, without following any rational criteria, to whom such licence is to be granted and refused.
