The Supreme Court on Friday, September 12, stated that pollution control policies cannot be designed exclusively for Delhi, simply because its residents are considered part of the country’s elite. The remarks came while the court was hearing a plea challenging its April 3 order that prohibited the sale, storage, transportation, and manufacture of firecrackers in the Delhi-NCR region. The court also issued a notice to the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) and sought its response within two weeks regarding a petition against the complete firecracker ban in the region.
Chief Justice BR Gavai, during the hearing, emphasized that the right to clean air is not limited to residents of Delhi and NCR. He said that any policy addressing air pollution should be implemented nationwide and not restricted to one region. The Chief Justice questioned the logic of making separate rules just for Delhi, suggesting that public health cannot be prioritized based on geography or class.
Sharing his personal observation, the Chief Justice noted that during a visit to Amritsar last winter, he found the air pollution there to be worse than in Delhi. He stressed that if there is to be a ban on firecrackers, it must apply across the entire country rather than being enforced selectively in Delhi-NCR.
