2025 Supreme(SC) 1820
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
B. R. GAVAI, CJI., K. VINOD CHANDRAN, J.
M.C. Mehta – Petitioner
Versus
Union of India & Ors. – Respondents
I.A. No. 208841 of 2025, I.A. No. 208905 of 2025, I.A. No. 206552 of 2025 in Writ Petition (C) No.13029 of 1985
Decided On : 15-10-2025
For the Petitioner:Mr. Uttara Babar, Sr. Adv. (A.C.) Ms. Shibani Ghosh, Advocate (A.C.) Petitioner-in-person
For the Respondents: Mr. P. K. Jain, AOR Mr. Ramesh Babu M. R., AOR Mr. Rajesh Kumar Chaurasia, AOR Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR Mrs. Anil Katiyar, AOR M/S. Parekh & Co., AOR Mr. Sudhir Mendiratta, AOR Mr. Sushil Kumar Singh, AOR Mr. Hardeep Singh Anand, AOR Mr. Sandeep Narain, AOR Ms. Nandini Gidwaney, AOR Mrs. Rani Chhabra, AOR Mr. G. Prakash, AOR Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR Mr. K. R. Sasiprabhu, AOR Mr. Shri Narain, AOR Mr. Umesh Kumar Khaitan, AOR Ms. Shalini Kaul, AOR Ms. Manjula Gupta, AOR Mrs. K. Sarada Devi, AOR Mr. Sanjay Kumar Visen, AOR Mrs. Priya Puri, AOR M/S. Khaitan & Co., AOR Mr. T. V. Ratnam, AOR Mr. Balaji Srinivasan, AOR Mr. Rajiv Ranjan Dwivedi, AOR Mr. Ravindra Bana, AOR Mr. S. S. Shroff, AOR Mr. Sushil Kumar Jain, AOR Mr. Aniruddha Deshmukh, AOR Mr. Sarvam Ritam Khare, AOR Mr. Kushagra Sharma, Adv. Mr. Akarsh Khare, Adv. Mr. Surya Kant, AOR Mrs. B. Sunita Rao, AOR Mr. Abhishek, AOR Mr. Alok Gupta, AOR Mr. Pramod Dayal, AOR Mr. R. P. Gupta, AOR Mr. P. Parmeswaran, AOR Mr. Mohit D. Ram, AOR Mr. Rakesh Kumar-i, AOR Mr. Satya Mitra, AOR M/S. M. V. Kini & Associates, AOR Mr. Pavan Kumar, AOR Mr. Parijat Sinha, AOR M/S. Saharya & Co., AOR Mr. Ejaz Maqbool, AOR M/S. S. Narain & Co., AOR Mr. Sandeep Narain, Adv. Ms. Kanak Malik, Adv. Mr. Chirag M. Shroff, AOR Mr. E. C. Agrawala, AOR Mr. Praveen Swarup, AOR Mr. Prashant Kumar, AOR Mr. Tushar Mehta Ld, Solicitor General Mrs. Aishwarya Bhati Ld, A.S.G. Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR Mr. Rajesh Kumar Singh, Adv. Mr. Jagdish Chandra, Adv. Mr. Gaurang Bhushan, Adv. Ms. Suhashini Sen, Adv. Mr. Aman Mehta, Adv. Mr. Akshay Amritanshu , AOR Mr. Radha Shyam Jena, AOR Ms. Hemantika Wahi, AOR Ms. Binu Tamta, AOR Mr. Ajit Pudussery, AOR Mrs. Bina Gupta, AOR Mr. Ashok Mathur, AOR Mr. V. K. Verma, AOR Mr. Anil Kumar Jha, AOR Mr. Mukesh K. Giri, AOR Mr. Rakesh K. Sharma, AOR Ms. Sujeeta Srivastava, AOR Ms. Pritha Srikumar Iyer, AOR Mr. Gaurav Kejriwal, AOR Mr. Sameer Abhyankar, AOR Mr. Rahul Kumar, Adv. Mr. Aakash Thakur, Adv. Mr. Shankey Agrawal, AOR Mr. Ankit Roy , AOR Ms. Surbhi Mehta, AOR Mr. Shovan Mishra, AOR Ms. G. Indira, AOR Mr. Prakash Ranjan Nayak, AOR Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav, AOR Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR Mr. Sameer Kumar, AOR Mr. Ajay Pal, AOR Mr. Dhananjaya Mishra, AOR Mr. Lokesh Sinhal, Sr. A.A.G. Mr. Nikunj Gupta, Adv. Mr. Sarthak Arya, Adv. Ms. Ishika Gupta, Adv. Ms. Aakansha, Adv. Ms. Kirti, Adv. Ms. Karishma Malini, A.A.G. Mr. Rahul Khurana, AOR Ms. Srishti Agnihotri, AOR Mr. Sudarshan Lamba, AOR Mr. Yash Pal Dhingra, AOR Mr. Ashutosh Dubey, AOR Ms. G. Indira, AOR Mr. Aakarshan Aditya, AOR Mr. Nitin Saluja, AOR Mr. Nirnimesh Dube, AOR Ms. Rashmi Malhotra, AOR Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR Mr. Gaurav Choudhary, AOR Mr. Ravindra Kumar, Sr. Adv. Mr. Binay Kumar Das, AOR Ms. Priyanka Das, Adv. Ms. Neha Das, Adv. Mr. Shivam Saksena, Adv. Mr. Aravindh S., AOR Ms. Jyotika Sharma, Adv. Ms. Meenakshi Chauhan, AOR M/S. Karanjawala & Co., AOR Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, AOR Mr. Chandra Prakash, AOR Mr. Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki, AOR Mr. Satya Mitra, AOR Mr. Deepayan Mandal, AOR Mr. Ravindra S. Garia, AOR Mr. Talha Abdul Rahman, AOR Mr. Guntur Pramod Kumar, AOR Mr. Rishi Sehgal, AOR Mr. Kunal Mimani, AOR Ms. Afsha Hakim, Adv. Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv. Ms. Charu Ambwani, AOR Mr. Subhro Sanyal, AOR Mr. Vinodh Kanna B., AOR Mr. Prasanna S., AOR Ms. Shalu Sharma, AOR Mr. Sahil Tagotra, AOR Mr. Akhil Anand, AOR Mrs. Prerna Dhall, Adv. Mr. Ambuj Swaroop, Adv. Mr. Kapil Katare, Adv. Ms. Rajnandani Kumari, Adv. Mr. Prashant Singh, AOR Ms. Minakshi Pandey, Adv. Mr. Shivendra Singh, AOR Mr. Sanjeev Kumar, AOR Ms. Tulika Mukherjee, AOR Ms. Divya Jyoti Singh, AOR Mr. Yoginder Handoo, AOR Ms. Misha Rohatgi, AOR Mr. Sandeep Singh, AOR Ms. Mithu Jain, AOR Ms. Asha Gopalan Nair, AOR M/S. Ahmadi Law Offices, AOR Dr. N. Visakamurthy, AOR [ Mr. Aashhish Chauhan, Adv. Ms. Sonal Chauhan, Adv. Ms. Vanya Gupta, AOR Ms. Kajal Dalal, AOR Mr. Ashish Pandey, AOR Mr. Ashutosh Bhardwaj, Adv. Mr. Prateek Rai, Adv. Mr. Shubham Saxena, Adv. Mr. Anmol Goyal, Adv. Mr. Piyush Merani, Adv. Mr. Pushkar Dwivedi, Adv. Ms. Mili Tomar, Adv. Ms. Sakshi Kakkar, AOR Mr. Akshay Girish Ringe, AOR Mr. Anuj Bhandari, AOR Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, A.A.G. Ms. Abhinandini Sharma, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Rajpal, Adv. Ms. Shalini Singh, Adv. Ms. Awanitika, Adv. Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, AOR Mr. Ravi Prakash, AOR Ms. N. Annapoorani, AOR Mr. S. Gowthaman, AOR Ms. Neeru Vaid, AOR Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR Mr. Saurabh Agrawal, AOR Mr. Dama S. Naidu, Sr. Adv. Mr. K. Parameshwar, Sr. Adv. Mr. J.Sai Deepak, Sr. Adv. Mr. Devansh Srivastava, AOR Ms. Aadya Chawla, Adv. Ms. Veda Singh, Adv. Mr. Prasad Hegde, Adv. Mr. Luv Virmani, AOR Ms. Divya Roy, AOR Ms. Shagun Matta, AOR Mr. Vinay Garg, AOR Mr. Anil Kumar, AOR Mr. Rakesh Kumar-i, AOR Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv. Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv. Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv. Mr. Vikrant Singh Bais, AOR Mr. Alok Gupta, AOR Mr. K. V. Mohan, AOR Mr. Yash S. Vijay, AOR M/S. Lex Regis Law Offices, AOR Miss Kanika Singhal, AOR Mr. Shekhar Kumar, AOR M/S. S. Narain & Co., AOR Mr. Sandeep Narain, Adv. Ms. Kanak Malik, Adv. Ms. Aswathi M.k., AOR Mr. Neeraj Shekhar, AOR Mrs. Kshama Sharma, Adv. Mr. Rajesh Maurya, Adv. Mr. Kanishak Saini, Adv. Mr. Ujjwal Ashutosh, Adv. Mr. Ashok Kumar Rai, Adv. Ms. Lubna Naaz, AOR Mr. Parminder Singh Bhullar, AOR Mr. Narendra Kumar Goyal, Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Singh, Adv. Mr. Chandrakant Sukumar Sarkar, Adv. Mr. C M Dwivedi, Adv. Mr. Kunwar Siddharth Singh, Adv. Mr. Jeetendra Kumar, Adv. Ms. Kajal Rani, Adv. Mr. Shantanu Jugtawat, Adv. Mr. Ikshit Singhal, Adv. M/S. Mukesh Kumar Singh And Co., AOR Ms. Ankita Sharma, AOR Mr. Kumar Dushyant Singh, AOR Mr. A. Venayagam Balan, AOR Dr. Pratap Singh Nerwal, AOR Ms. Jaikriti S. Jadeja, AOR Mr. Rajan Narain, AOR Mr. Gaurav, AOR Mr. T. R. B. Sivakumar, AOR Mr. Mohit Paul, AOR Mr. Nischal Kumar Neeraj, AOR Ms. Aastha Mehta, Adv. Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, AOR Mr. Deepak Singh, Adv. Ms. Prerana Mohapatra, Adv. Ms. Priyal Sheth, Adv. Ms. Prina Sharma, Adv. Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR Mr. Shwetank Singh, Adv. Ms. Filza Moonis, AOR Mr. Divyanshu Kumar Srivastava, AOR Mr. Adarsh Tripathi , AOR Mr. S. S. Shroff, AOR Ms. Astha Tyagi, AOR Mr. Sandeep Kumar Jha, AOR M/S. M. V. Kini & Associates, AOR Ms. Manju Jetley, AOR Mr. Amrish Kumar, AOR Mr. Nishit Agrawal, AOR Mr. Raghvendra Kumar, AOR Mr. Pulkit Agarwal, AOR Mr. Satish Kumar, AOR Mr. Abhaya Nath Das, Adv. Mr. S S Bandyopadhyay, Adv. Mr. Soumya Kundu, Adv. Ms. Arina Bhattacharjee, Adv. Mr. Sudhir Kumar Singh, Adv. Ms. Krishnika Chatterjee, Adv. Mrs. Barnali Basak, Adv. Mr. Om Prakash Sapra, Adv. Mr. Kishor Kumar Mishra, Adv. Dr. Additya Mishra, Adv. Mr. Abhay Singh, Adv. Mr. B C Bhatt, Adv. Ms. Thithiksha Padmam, Adv. Ms. Palak Joshi, Adv. Ms. Twinkle Rathi, Adv. Ms. Ameyavikrama Thanvi, AOR Mr. Karan Dewan, Adv. Mr. Kartik Yadav, Adv. Ms. Aanchal Jain, AOR Mr. Rajiv Yadav, AOR Ms. Madhumita Bhattacharjee, AOR Mr. Ayush Sharma, AOR Mr. Gopal Jha, AOR Mr. Nand Kishore Sharma, Adv. Mr. Ankit Agrawal, Adv. Mr. Ram Ji Dwivedi, Adv. Mr. Paras Bajpai, Adv. Mr. Pradeep Misra, AOR Mr. Manish Kumar, AOR Mr. Divyansh Mishra, Adv. Mr. Kumar Saurav, Adv. Mr. Harsh V. Surana, AOR Mr. Joydip Roy, A.A.G. Mr. Veer Vikrant, D.A.G. Mr. Yashraj Singh Bundela, AOR Mrs. Pratima Singh, Adv. Ms. Saloni Singh, Adv. Mr. Arpit Garg, Adv. Ms. Ishita Jain , AOR Mr. Manish Kumar Gupta, AOR Mr. Sravan Kumar Karanam, AOR Mr. P.venkatraju, Adv. Mr. Kumar Abhishek, Adv. Mr. Kumar Nikhil, Adv. Mr. Vinayak Sharma, Standing Counsel, Adv. Mr. Ravinder Kumar Yadav, AOR Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, Adv. Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv. Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv. Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv. Ms. Yanmi Phazang, Adv. Mr. Anas Tanwir, AOR Ms. Puja Sharma, AOR Mr. Shishir Deshpande, AOR Mr. D.kumanan, AOR Ms. Jyoti Mendiratta, AOR Ms. Rakhi Ray, AOR Ms. Vrinda Bhandari, AOR Ms. Charu Mathur, AOR Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR Mr. Kailash Prashad Pandey, AOR Mr. Varun Varma, Adv. Mr. Amit Kumar Chawla, Adv. Mr. Hitesh Kumar Sharma, Adv. Mr. Akhileshwar Jha, Adv. Ms. Shreya Jha, Adv. Ms. Manisha Chawla, Adv. Ms. Niharika Dwivedi, Adv. Ms. Swati Vishan, Adv. Mr. Mahi Pal Singh, Adv. Mr. Chaman Sharma, Adv. Mr. Sourabh Kumar Solanki, Adv. Mr. Ishank Ranjan, Adv. Mr. Prakhar Shukla, Adv. Mr. Jatin Malik, Adv. Mr. Avnish Sharma, Adv. Mr. Devender Kumar Mishra, Adv. Ms. Laveena Tak, Adv. Mr. Supriya, Adv. Mr. Sandeep Singh Dingra, Adv. Mr. M. P. Devanath, AOR Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Sr. Adv. Ms. Jasneet Kaur, Adv. Ms. Srishti Mishra, Adv. Mr. Sumeet Mishra, Adv. Mr. R. C. Kohli, AOR Mr. Rishi Matoliya, AOR Mr. Anurag Kishore, AOR Ms. Mayuri Raghuvanshi, AOR Mr. Neeraj Kumar Gupta, AOR Ms. Pritha Srikumar Iyer, AOR Ms. Rooh-e-hina Dua, AOR Mr. Mudit Gupta , AOR Ms. K. V. Bharathi Upadhyaya, AOR Mr. Shantwanu Singh, AOR Mr. Pranav Sachdeva, AOR Mr. Sameer Shrivastava, AOR Ms. Nidhi Mohan Parashar, AOR Mr. Kuldip Singh, AOR Ms. Anushree Prashit Kapadia, AOR Ms. Purnima Jauhari, AOR Dr. Brij Bhushan K Jauhari, Adv. Mr. Deepak Jyoti Ghildiyal, Adv. Mr. Harsh Mahan, Adv. Mr. O P Singh, Adv. Mr. Aditya R Swami, Adv. Mr. Danish Zubair Khan, AOR Mr. Vikas Mehta, AOR Mr. Abhishek Saket, Adv. Mr. Sudeep Kumar, AOR Ms. Manisha, Adv. Ms. Rupali, Adv. Mr. Niraj Gupta, AOR Ms. Anshu Gupta, Adv. Mr. Shubham Gupta, Adv. Ms. Siddhi Gupta, Adv. Ms. Shibani Ghosh, AOR Mr. Tarun Gupta, AOR Mr. Hirday Virdi, Adv. Mr. Sidhant Ranta, Adv. Ms. Surabhi Sanchita, AOR Mr. Vinod Sharma, AOR Mr. Debojit Borkakati, AOR Mr. Vikrant Singh Bais, AOR Ms. Diksha Rai, AOR Mr. Ketan Paul, AOR Mr. Hiren Dasan, AOR Mr. Ajay Vikram Singh, AOR Mrs. Priyanka Singh, Adv. Mr. M Aamir Faiyaz, Adv. Ms. Anushka Rajora, Adv. Mr. K. Paari Vendhan, AOR Mr. Karan Sharma, AOR Mr. Mudit Gupta , AOR Mr. Kawaljit Singh Bhatia, AOR Mr. Vivek Gupta, AOR Mr. Vinay Garg, AOR M/S. Ram Sankar & Co, AOR Mr. P. Parmeswaran, AOR Mr. Durga Dutt, AOR Mr. Soumya Dutta, AOR M/S. Ram Sankar & Co, AOR Ms. Malvika Kapila, AOR
The court upheld the ban on non-green firecrackers in Delhi NCR to protect public health, permitting only controlled use of 'green crackers' while ensuring compliance with strict environmental regulations.
Headnote:(A) Environmental Protection Act - Right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India - Ban on firecrackers in National Capital Territory upheld to protect health against air pollution, while allowing controlled use of 'green crackers'. (Paras 1-26)
(B) Public Health - The court stresses the importance of public health over commercial interests, relating to traditional practices like bursting firecrackers. (Paras 1-4)
(C) Temporary measures proposed for controlled sale of 'green crackers' during festivals to mitigate pollution while supporting livelihoods. (Paras 24)
Facts of the case:
Petitioner challenged the ban on firecrackers in Delhi NCR imposed due to environmental concerns, highlighting its impact on the livelihoods of workers in the industry. The Government and industry sought a balance between public health and economic interests through the use of 'green crackers'.
Findings of Court:
The court maintained the ban but allowed limited use of 'green crackers', directing strict implementation and monitoring measures for compliance.
Issues: The balance between environmental protection, public health, and the livelihoods of those employed in the firecracker industry.
Ratio Decidendi: The court found that traditional practices may not override the health risks posed by air pollution, upholding the ban while allowing regulated use of environmentally friendlier alternatives.
Result: The court permits temporary sale of 'green crackers' under strict conditions.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. balancing environmental concerns with cultural practices. (Para 1 , 2) |
| 2. impact of firecrackers on air quality and public health. (Para 3 , 8 , 12) |
| 3. economic impacts of firecracker bans on workers. (Para 4 , 5 , 10) |
| 4. regulatory measures for green crackers and their testing. (Para 6 , 24) |
| 5. proposals for regulation of firecracker sales. (Para 14 , 15 , 16 , 19) |
| 6. need for balancing interests of stakeholders post-ban. (Para 20 , 21 , 22) |
| 7. implementation of a controlled relaxation on firecracker use. (Para 23 , 25) |
ORDER :
1. Aggravated environmental pollution resulting in serious health hazards is pitted against the right to life and the right to carry on a profession; as available to the persons engaged in the firecrackers industry and their workmen. Bursting firecrackers is an expression of the festive spirit and it enhances the mood in religious and other auspicious ceremonies, embedded in the cultural milieu of India. However that cannot lead to a situation of causing long term or even short term damage to health by an uncontrolled use, based only on traditions and cultural or religious norms. We cannot but reiterate, as this Court held oftener than ever, that the commercial considerations and the festive spirit should take a back seat when it concerns the environment and health.
2. The deleterious effect of permitting the firework industry a free play, especially on designated festival days when the rampant, uncontrolled use brings down the ambient air quality and spikes the presence of pollutants, has been vexing this Court for over a decade. In Arjun Gopal and Ors. v. Union of India and Ors. , Writ Petition No.728 of 2015, the conflicting claims of the industry, the users, and the health hazards as also the mishaps caused in its use and accidents in manufacturing were addressed in various orders. While so, in 2020, an Interlocutory Application raised a similar issue in M.C. Mehta v. Union of India , Writ Petition (C) No.13029 of 1985, wherein also the issue was dealt with at length. We do not intend to trace the evolution of the two streams of litigation, since presently we are concerned with the ban imposed by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (for brevity ‘NCTD’). We cannot but observe that the two streams should meet, at some time for reason only of consistency.
3. Be that as it may, the ban imposed in NCTD was upheld by this Court in M.C. Mehta and directions issued to implement it scrupulously, which it is claimed has thrown the industry into disarray, impinging upon the livelihood of the manufacturers, workers and the traders in the firecrackers industry. The ban was imposed to ensure better air quality in the NCTD, further compounded by the stubble burning in the National Capital Region (NCR) which is comprised of entire Delhi and districts in the neighbouring States i.e. Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Pursuant to the orders issued by this Court, the licences issued by Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) have been cancelled or have not been renewed after expiry. The industry representing the manufacturers, traders and the workmen who are before us, claim relaxation, especially in the context of the advent of ‘green crackers’, the emission from which is far less damaging, resulting in minimal pollution and lesser gravity and intensity. The Government of NCTD and the Central Government are also agreeable to the relaxation but with strict compliance of the norms laid down by this Court.
4. The learned Amicus Curiae is apprehensive of the situation becoming uncontrollable and reverting to the earlier times when Delhi reeled under the effect of smog and soot, emitted from the firecrackers, which remain in the atmosphere for long and when ingested refuse to leave the system of both humans and the animals; resulting in lasting damage.
5. We heard Mr. K Parameshwar, learned Senior Counsel representing the industry, Mr. Tushar Mehta, learned Solicitor General and M