New Delhi: The Supreme court on Tuesday heard a plea pertaining to ban on production and sale of fire crackers ahead of Diwali and refused to put a ban on fire crackers, but imposed certain restrictions on the use and sale of the same. The court allowed burning of crackers on the day of Diwali only between 8 pm and 10 pm. The court also barred the e-commerce sector from selling the crackers online. SC said that "e-commerce websites will be hauled up for contempt of court if they don't adhere to court's direction".

The apex court also strictly instructed to restrain from using crackers which produce toxic gases. The court also ordered that firecrackers with permissible decibel sound limits will only be allowed to be sold in the market.

The court also held that on Christmas and new years, crackers can only be burnt between 11:55pm and 12:15am.

Supreme Court asked the Centre to encourage community cracker bursting during Diwali and other festivals in Delhi-NCR. It also directed all states to explore feasibility of community cracker bursting during festivals. The court also permitted sale and manufacture of "green" crackers which have low emission across the country.

The court declared that Station house officers of police station concerned will be held liable if banned firecrackers are sold in their area.

The apex court had earlier said that while thinking about the plea, the right to livelihood of cracker producers and the right to health of 115 crore people will have to be kept in mind.




The court had said that Article 21 (right to life) of constitution implies on people belonging to all sorts of backgrounds.

The court had also asked the centre to provide suggestions on controlling the pollution levels and sought the majority view of the population on the banning of crackers.

The apex court had last year banned crackers in the national capital.