'Everything Available,' SC Flags Sale Of Firecrackers In Delhi After News Report, Seeks Action

The Supreme Court on Tuesday took note of a Hindustan Times report that showed conventional and unauthorised firecrackers were being sold openly in Delhi markets despite restrictions imposed a day earlier. The bench asked the Centre, the Delhi government and police to take all necessary measures to prevent violations.

A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Prasanna B Varale cited the November 3 report, which found firecrackers on display and for sale across several markets. It said conventional crackers were available on request and that products with doubtful QR codes were being passed off as green firecrackers.

“In today's report on Hindustan Times there is a photograph. They say that notwithstanding yesterday’s order, now everything is available in the (firecracker) shops. Please look into it,” the bench told additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati, who appeared for the Centre, the Delhi government and the Commission for Air Quality Management, as reported by Hindustan Times. The bench added: “They say that in the market every other cracker, licensed, unlicensed, QR code, or no QR code, everything is available. Please take a note of it.”

Markets And Sales

The report drew on market visits on October 22 and November 2. It found open firecracker sales in Chandni Chowk, Sadar Bazaar, Shastri Nagar, Sarojini Nagar and New Friends Colony, among other locations.

Shopkeepers put up packs marked “green crackers”, “pollution-free” and “zero pollution”. They also kept regular firecrackers ready for buyers who asked, often drawing them from hidden stock or nearby warehouses. In some shops, sellers left the conventional crackers out of sight until a customer requested them.

QR codes did not always work as intended. Many boxes lacked the court-mandated code, while others sent buyers to online catalogues instead of confirming the product’s certification.

In Chandni Chowk, a seller told a customer seeking larger fireworks to visit Sadar Bazaar, saying all of it was available there. The report also said street vendors and shopkeepers were displaying firecrackers before the sales window had begun.

Sellers were reportedly also accepting advance orders for home delivery despite the court’s prohibition on online sales.

Court Restrictions And Enforcement

The court eased its blanket ban for a short Diwali window on November 2. It allowed certified green firecrackers to be sold in Delhi-NCR from November 4 to 6. Bursting will be permitted only from 6am to 7am and 8pm to 10pm on November 7 and 8, before the ban returns on November 9.

Justices Sundresh and Varale limited sales to firecrackers cleared by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute and the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation. They also confined sales to approved locations and barred online trade.

Every box had to display a QR code tied to that product. It had to reveal the maker, NEERI registration, PESO or district magistrate licence, formulation and test certificate. The court also banned the making and sale of series firecrackers, known as laris, along with crackers that contain barium or do not have CSIR-NEERI approval.

The order also targeted illegal supply chains. Authorities were directed to confiscate illegal and conventional crackers and initiate prosecution against offending manufacturers and traders.

The bench had flagged the gap in enforcement in its order. “Despite the complete ban having resumed, as aforestated, conventional firecrackers were sold and continue to be sold under the guise of green crackers ,” it stated. The court said the blanket prohibition was helping illegal sales.

Enforcement stayed at the centre of the court’s concern. It said its earlier orders had not delivered the intended outcome and pointed to implementation as the main failure. District administrations and police were told to mark sale points, set up patrol teams, check QR codes, inspect vehicles entering Delhi-NCR and seize unauthorised products.

The bench also tightened compliance. It ordered manufacturers and traders to submit sizeable security deposits that would be forfeited if they broke the rules. Pollution-control authorities were told to track air quality before, during and after Diwali and gather data on hospital admissions and reported deaths to measure the health impact of firecracker use.