Under guise of green crackers, banned items being used: SC
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday said that under the guise of green crackers, banned articles are being used by firecracker manufacturers and reiterated that its earlier order banning joint crackers must be complied with by every state.
A bench of Justices M R Shah and A S Bopanna said the top court is not averse to celebration but not at the cost of life of other citizens.
Celebration does not mean use of loud crackers, it can also be with "Fuljhaddi" and the like which are not noisy, it said.
"Our earlier order must be complied with by every state. Despite the fact that there is a specific ban on joint crackers, if you go to any state or city or any celebration, joint crackers are openly available in the market.
"Our order must be complied with. It is not the question whether one content or the other. It is being sold openly in the market and used by people. We would like to know if a ban is there, how come they are available in markets," the bench said.
As the hearing commenced, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for petitioner Arjun Gopal, submitted that they have filed an additional affidavit on the basis of the CBI report and what has transpired is indeed very disturbing.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for manufacturers' association of firecrackers, contended that the industry should work as per the protocol issued by the government.
"It is an organised industry. Around five lakh families depend on us. So far Sivakasi is concerned, we are taking all the precautions," Dave said.
The apex court said the main difficulty is about implementation of the orders issued by it.
"Have you seen the reply by the manufacturers. What they say is very surprising. They say that when they are found to have purchased a huge quantity of barium salt, it is to be kept in godown but not to be used for manufacture. It's not for show that they are keeping it godown," the bench said.
Senior advocate Rajiv Dutta said if one or two manufacturers are violating the orders the whole industry should not suffer.
The apex court asked the parties to exchange copies of counter affidavits filed in response to the CBI report and posted the matter for hearing on October 26
The apex court had earlier said the CBI report on use of toxic chemicals in manufacturing of firecrackers is very serious and "prima facie" it appears that there has been violation of the court's orders on use of barium and labelling of fireworks.
It had noted that manufacturers such as Hindustan Fireworks and Standard Fireworks purchased barium in huge quantities and used these chemicals in the fireworks.
