Calcutta High Court comes with an order of complete ban on sale and usage of all types of firecrackers in West Bengal during the upcoming festivals of Deepawali and Chhath Puja. Calcutta High Court puts a restriction on the usage of Green crackers as well. Only wax or oil based diyas permitted to be used. The Ban is being directed to check air pollution amid covid pandemic. The Calcutta High Court also directed the police to initiate legal action against anyone found violating the ban after having confiscated the crackers.

A Division Bench ordered, “Keeping in mind the practical realities, we find that there is no mechanism in place to ascertain whether the crackers being sold/burst are only green crackers in compliance with the norms set in place by the relevant certifying body”. The Court also observed that it would be an impossible task by police and law enforcement bodies to inspect firecrackers and the classification under which they are sold.

Roshni Ali, the woman who filed the PIL in Calcutta High Court resulting into a blanket ban order on firecrackers in the state. She is a Hindu hater which can be clearly visible through her tweets. The Calcutta High Court interfering with how people should celebrate festivals is a deeply divisive move and takes away from a critical freedom guaranteed in the Constitution. This will pave the way for more confrontation and not more conciliation.

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