Firecracker Regulations in Delhi NCR: Supreme Court’s Dual Ruling on Production and Sale

The Supreme Court has made a significant ruling regarding firecrackers in the Delhi-NCR region. While permitting certified manufacturers to produce green firecrackers, the court has banned their sale within the area. The court specified that only those authorized by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) can manufacture these products. The court has also directed the central government to work with stakeholders to find a resolution concerning the existing ban on the sale and storage of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR, with a deadline set for October 8th. Earlier, the court addressed the selective nature of the restrictions and raised the question of whether clean air is a right limited to the ‘elite’ citizens of the national capital, proposing a uniform approach to implementation across the country. This comes as the Supreme Court heard petitions on regulating firecrackers in the NCR on September 12, with Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran presiding. These cases stemmed from petitions filed by firecracker manufacturers and citizen groups, challenging the April 3, 2025, order that upheld the December 19, 2024, ban on the sale, manufacturing, and storage of firecrackers in Delhi and the NCR districts of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan. The court emphasized the necessity of the year-round ban due to the region’s alarming air quality. Subsequently, similar restrictions were enforced by neighboring states within their NCR districts. The initial ban originated in 2017 by the National Green Tribunal, later supported by the Supreme Court in 2018 and has been in force since then.