No ban, no 24-hour fireworks: SC keeps Diwali rules pending
The Supreme Court Bench indicated it would favour neither a total ban nor unrestricted firecracker use, while leaving the actual rules for a later hearing.
The Supreme Court left the timing and categories of permitted firecrackers for a later hearing.
The Supreme Court has not delivered a final Diwali firecracker ruling. During a September 30 hearing, a Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and P.B. Varale indicated it would favour neither a total ban nor unrestricted use for 24 hours. The court instead said it needed to consider specified timings and specified categories of crackers. The rules, inconveniently, remain unwritten.
The Bench was inclined to consider suggestions on certain joint firecrackers, commonly called larri, subject to conditions. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati sought time until October 15 for the Central Pollution Control Board to submit findings on barium-based crackers, citing pending outdoor testing. The matter was listed for further hearing that day.
The proceedings overlap with Delhi-NCR firecracker cases, including the M.C. Mehta matter. The reports reviewed do not establish a nationwide permission, a Telangana-specific direction, permitted hours or a final list of crackers. Applications seeking a complete ban also remain pending. For now, the Supreme Court has discussed a regulated framework; it has not finished writing one.