Delhi HC junks plea challenging blanket ban on firecrackers
Darpan News Desk IANS, 20 Oct, 2022 11:30 AM
New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to entertain a petition challenging the Arvind Kejriwal-led government's blanket ban on firecrackers in the national capital.
Justice Yashwant Varma said the issue is already pending before the Supreme Court and observed that it is not appropriate for the High Court to take the matter.
Two petitioners, engaged in storing and selling of green crackers, approached the High Court challenging the Delhi Pollution Control Committee's (DPCC) order to completely ban the manufacture, storage, sale, and bursting of all kinds of firecrackers till next year in the capital city.
The plea stated that the air quality in New Delhi has been moderate or better at least since August 15 this year.
"In this view, there is no occasion to impose a ban on the use of even green crackers. Almost all Covid-19 related restrictions that were in force in December 2020 have now been relaxed. There is thus no reason that a restriction on the sale and use of firecrackers remain, especially at a time when the AQI levels in Delhi are at moderate or better levels," it said.
The petitioners also argued that the ban is against the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and Supreme Court orders.
"It is clear from the order of the learned NGT dated December 1, 2020, and that of the Supreme Court dated July 23, 2021, that a complete ban on the use of crackers is impermissible. Restrictions can be made only in cases where the air quality is poor. The same is not the case in Delhi," the plea contended.
Two accused were awarded life imprisonment by a special SIT court here on Monday in the 2002 Godhra train carnage case in which 59 ‘karsevaks’ were burnt alive in two coaches of the Sabarmati Express.
Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian javelin thrower to win an Asian Games gold medal as he shattered his own national record by clearing a distance of 88.06m here on Monday.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are likely to invite Congress president Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders for its three-day event next month.
Nearly 37 years after an Air India plane was hijacked and commandeered to Pakistan, a Delhi court on Monday acquitted two of the accused in the case who were charged with waging war against the country.
Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday came out in support of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, saying that the Gandhi scion could not be responsible for something he wasn’t even aware of.
A Cirque du Soleil show is all about celebrating diversity by creating a new universe, and "Bazzar" -- the show with which they are making their debut in India -- promises to bring all these elements to the stage in India, says the show's costume designer James Lavoie.
