Delhi High Court adjourns hearing to Oct 22 on PIL seeking to reverse ban on firecrackers

The Delhi High Court adjourned the hearing on a plea on Wednesday that sought to modify the Delhi Government's order of the complete ban on storage, sale and use of firecrackers in the national capital during the festive season. The bench consisting of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh deferred the matter until October 22, 2021, as a similar matter is already being examined by the Supreme Court.

The petition was filed by Rahul Sawariya and Tanveer through Advocates Gautam Jha, Pankaj Kumar and Shweta Jha and asked the court to modify the order from a complete ban to graded regulations. The petitioner argued that a decision to ban all forms of firecrackers a month and a half prior to Diwali is arbitrary and unreasonable. The petitioner also claimed that the decision to ban the use of the firecrackers one and a half months prior to Diwali was excessive. The petition read, "The action of the Respondent must be no more intrusive than is necessary to meet an important public purpose. No doubt Article 25 of the Indian Constitution is subject to Article 21 and it is not contested by the Petitioners, however, it is submitted by the Petitioners that the extent of the interference of the respondent by its decision/order is not proportionate to the ultimate aim and objective i.e. to curb the Pollution in the NCT of Delhi. "

What does the data suggest?

As per the petitioner, the National Clean Air Programme, under the Ministry of Environment & Forest & Climate Change, curated a report on factors responsible for air pollution and said that the data presented in the report suggested that the bursting of firecrackers was not one of the 'major' sources of pollutions in Delhi and NCR. The petitioner said, "It is certainly not the case of the Petitioners that all categories of firecrackers are good, but Petitioners are aggrieved by 'complete ban' on the storage, sale, and use of the firecrackers, since neither government data, nor the Judgments on this subject advocate a complete ban, which makes the decision of Government of NCT Delhi as arbitrary, unreasonable and excessive."

With ANI inputs