Not only court's duty, people should themselves stop using firecrackers: SC

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed all States and Union Territories to comply with the court’s orders regarding curbs on bursting firecrackers during Diwali and at other times of the year.

Holding that sensitivising people is the key, the court pointed out that a celebration by polluting the environment is all about being “selfish".

A bench of Justices A S Bopanna and M M Sundresh said that banning firecrackers completely cannot be implemented until people take it upon themselves to stop using firecrackers.

The bench said people will burst whatever they have bought and there is a wrong perception that it is only the court's duty when it comes to environmental matters.

“If you do that, you are being selfish...These days it’s not the children who do it, but the elders are burning more crackers,” the bench said.

The bench also pointed out pollution will not end even by limiting fireworks to a certain time.

“It is for everyone to manage air and sound pollution,” the bench said.

The court was hearing a plea in a pending petition filed by Arjun Gopal and others

The court said celebration can never be about causing pollution and “celebration can be done only if you share what you have. Not by polluting the environment”.

An application was filed seeking directives to the Rajasthan government and the state pollution control board to take immediate steps to reduce air and sound pollution in Udaipur.

In its order, the bench noted that Rajasthan and all other States should comply with the orders passed by the Supreme Court earlier. The bench noted that it has already passed a slew of directions for the Centre and all states to bring down air and noise pollution due to an array of causes, including firecrackers.

“No specific orders would be necessary as this court has already passed several orders, indicating steps to minimise air and noise pollution. The said orders would bind every state, including Rajasthan," the bench said.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, for the petitioners, including his son Arjun, cited the stubble burning issue in the neighbouring States of Delhi, after which the apex court sought response from the India Meteorological Department.

In September this year, the court had rejected a plea by firecracker manufacturers and Centre to allow the production of joint crackers and improved green crackers having lesser concentration of barium salts. The court had also directed the Centre to come up with improved formulations that do not contain these salts.