Preservation Of Life Important Than Festivals, Says SC; Upholds Ban On Crackers In West Bengal
As more and more states continue to ban or regulate and restrict the sale and use of firecrackers during the Diwali festival, the Supreme Court has said that nothing is more important than preserving life.
The Supreme Court which was hearing a plea against the ban of firecrackers in West Bengal during the ongoing festive season said "We understand these festivals are important. But when lives are at peril, any effort to save human life should be made... We are very conscious about the importance of festivals but we are living amidst the pandemic and everyone should come out to support the decision which improves the situation."
The SC bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Indira Banerjee dismissed a plea challenging the Calcutta High Court order against the firecracker ban.
Strong words from the SC bench
"There cannot be anything more important than the preservation of life in the current pandemic. Life is itself in danger now and people should come together to deal with the problem," Justices DY Chandrachud added.
"We are all battling for life in this situation and all of us have elderly people in our home," he observed.?
The Calcutta High Court had last week issued a ban on the sale and bursting of firecrackers across West Bengal during the festival season including Diwali, Chhath Puja, Kali Puja, etc in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, which according to experts can be aggravated by a rise in air pollution.
Several states restricted sale of crackers
This comes even as several states and Union Territories have already restricted the sale and bursting of firecrackers during the festivities.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had on Monday imposed a total ban on sale and use of firecrackers in Delhi and adjoining areas starting midnight of November 9 to November 30.?
The tribunal also directed all states/UTs to initiate drives to contain air pollution from all sources in view of potential of aggravation of COVID-19.
"The cities/towns where air quality is 'moderate' or below, only green crackers be sold, and the timings for use and bursting of crackers be restricted to two hours during festivals like Diwali, Chhath, New Year/Christmas Eve etc., as may be specified by the state concerned.
"At other places, ban/restrictions are optional for the authorities but if there are more stringent measures under orders of the authorities, the same will prevail," a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel.
Several states like Punjab, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, etc have allowed the bursting of green firecrackers during the festival.
