Celebration cannot be at cost of others' health: Supreme Court on firecracker ban

Celebration cannot be at the cost of others health the Supreme Court said and clarified that while there is no total ban on the use of firecrackers those fireworks which contain Barium salts are prohibitedWarning that top officials at various levels shall be held personally liable for any lapses the apex court said it is unfortunate that despite various directions issued by it there is a blatant violation going on Despite the ban on use of Barium Salts in the firecrackers prohibited crackers are being manufactured transported sold and used it saidA bench of Justices MR Shah and AS Bopanna said that no authority can be permitted to violate the directions issued by it and allow banned firecrackers in the guise of celebration Everybody including the implementing agencies are bound to see that the directions issued by the courts are implemented and followed in true spirit and in toto the top court saidPrima facie it appears that the implementing agencies of the concerned states either lack desire to implement the directions issued by this Court or they close their eyes for whatever reasons it said The apex court further asserted that celebration cannot be at the cost of the others healthUnder the guise of celebration nobody can be permitted to infringe the right to health of others guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India and nobody can be allowed to play with the life of the others more particularly the senior citizens and the children it said It is made clear that there is no total ban on use of firecrackers Only those firecrackers are banned as directed hereinabove which are found to be injurious to health and affecting the health of the citizens more particularly the senior citizens and the children the bench saidIt further noted that under the guise of green crackers banned chemicals firecrackers are being sold and there is a mislabelling on the boxes and even the QR codes provided on the boxes of green crackers are alleged to be fake There is a report submitted by the CBI submitted pursuant to the earlier directionsorders passed by this Court and it prima facie appears that there is a blatant violation of the directions issued by this Court by the respective manufacturers and the banned firecrackers are being sold and used in the markets The allegations if found to be true are very serious and cannot be tolerated the apex court saidThe court reiterated the directions issued by it earlier including banning the use of Barium Salts in the firecrackers and manufacturing and selling joined firecrackers It directed all the statesUnion Territories to see that the directions issued earlier by it as also on Friday are strictly complied with in true spirit and in totoAny lapse on the part of the State Governments State Agencies and UTs shall be viewed very seriously and if it is found that any banned firecrackers are manufactured sold and used in any particular area the Chief Secretary of the concerned States the Secretary Homes of the concerned States and the Commissioner of Police and DSP of the concerned area and the SHOPolice Officer incharge of the concerned police station shall be held personally liable the bench saidNobody can be permitted to flout and disobey the directions issued by the top court it said adding that any wilful and deliberate disobedience shall have to be viewed very seriously It directed all the statesUTs to give due publicity through electronicprint media and local cable services to make the people aware of the directions issued by the court on manufacture use and sale of banned firecrackersThe matter is listed for further consideration on November 30 The SC Thursday had dispelled the impression that it was against a particular group or community by banning firecrackers and said it cannot allow violation of rights of citizens under the guise of enjoymentIt had made it clear that it wants full implementation of its orders to send a message that it is here to protect the rights of people and can even pass an order for CBI investigation concerning those manufacturers who are selling fake green crackers Under the guise of enjoyment you manufacturers cannot play with the lives of citizens We are not against a particular community We want to send a strong message that we are here for the protection of fundamental rights of citizens the bench had saidThe bench had said that it is not averse to the celebration but not at the cost of the life of other citizens The apex court said that celebration does not mean the use of loud crackers and it can also be from Fuljhaddi etc which are not noisy It had ordered six manufacturers to show cause why they should not be punished for contempt of its ordersIt had said it cannot infringe the right to life of other citizens under the guise of employment while considering a ban on firecrackers and its prime focus is the right to life of innocent citizens The apex court had earlier refused to impose a complete ban on the sale of firecrackers and said that sales can happen through only licensed traders and that only green crackers can be sold The online sale of firecrackers has been completely bannedAlso Read Ahead of Diwali Pune police bans sutli bomb firecrackerThe verdict had come in response to a plea seeking a ban on the manufacturing and sale of firecrackers across the country to curb air pollution In the past the apex court had said that while deciding on a ban on firecrackers it is imperative to take into account the fundamental right of livelihood of firecracker manufacturers and the right to health of over 13 billion people of the countryThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever