The Supreme Court on Friday, September 26, allowed certified manufacturers to produce green firecrackers in Delhi and the adjoining NCR districts but said they cannot be sold in the region until further orders.

A bench led by Chief Justice BR Gavai, with Justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria, made it clear that only manufacturers authorised by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) will be permitted to operate. Manufacturers must also give an undertaking that none of the firecrackers produced will be sold in Delhi-NCR.

Call for a balanced policy

The bench said an absolute prohibition had proved difficult to enforce, citing the example of Bihar where a complete mining ban had led to illegal networks

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