On Thursday (19th December), the Supreme Court of India directed the Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments to ban the use of firecrackers completely until 1st January 2025.
The development comes amid the ‘severe’ Air Quality Index (AQI) in the National Capital. It must be mentioned that the BJP-ruled States of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh had shown reluctance to the complete prohibition on firecrackers.
A 2-judge Bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and AG Masih stated that the ban on firecrackers in Delhi would be ineffective if similar prohibitions were not adopted by the States in the National Capital Region (NCR).
“We are of the view that this ban will be effective only when other states forming part of the NCR impose similar measures. For the time being, we direct the states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to impose a similar ban as enforced by Delhi under its order dated December 19, 2024,” the apex court ruled.
