Representative image. Subhashish Panigrahi, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
हिन्दी में सारांश Summary in Hindi
- 3 नवंबर 2026 को सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने हिन्दुस्तान टाइम्स की उस रिपोर्ट पर ध्यान दिया, जिसमें दिल्ली के बाज़ारों में हर तरह के पटाखे खुलेआम बिकने की बात है।
- तिरिक्त सॉलिसिटर जनरल ऐश्वर्या भाटी से इसे देखने को कहा।
- क्टूबर के आदेश के मुताबिक सिर्फ़ प्रमाणित ग्रीन पटाखे, 4 से 6 नवंबर तक तय जगहों पर ही बिक सकते हैं।
বাংলায় সারাংশ Summary in Bangla
- ৩ নভেম্বর ২০২৬ সুপ্রিম কোর্ট হিন্দুস্তান টাইমসের একটি রিপোর্টের কথা তুলেছে, যাতে বলা হয়েছে দিল্লির বাজারে সব ধরনের পটকা খোলাখুলি বিক্রি হচ্ছে।
- তিরিক্ত সলিসিটর জেনারেল ঐশ্বর্য ভাটিকে বিষয়টি দেখতে বলেছেন।
- নুযায়ী শুধু প্রমাণিত গ্রিন পটকা, ৪ থেকে ৬ নভেম্বর নির্দিষ্ট জায়গায় বিক্রি করা যাবে।
Why it matters
The court eased its year-round ban on the promise that only tested green crackers would reach Delhi homes. If conventional crackers are passed off as green ones, as the HT report alleges, the safeguards fail, and the cost falls on air quality that the order itself calls precarious. The bench's remarks put the job of stopping that trade back on the Centre, the Delhi government and the police before the sale window opens.
The Delhi firecracker sale that the Supreme Court tried to limit to certified green crackers is happening in the open, a newspaper report said, and on 3 November 2026 the court asked the Centre’s law officer to look into it. The remarks came a day after the court’s order easing its year-round ban for Diwali was made public, and a day before the permitted sale window opens.
A bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Prasanna B. Varale referred to a Hindustan Times report published that morning. It told Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, who appeared for the Centre, the Delhi government and the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), to take note and act, according to Hindustan Times, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency and the legal news site Bar and Bench.
What the Supreme Court said on 3 November
The bench pointed to a photograph in the newspaper. It said the report claimed that, notwithstanding the order released the previous day, everything was now available in the shops, and asked the law officer to look into it. All three accounts read by NewsPlainly carry the same words.
Justice Sundresh added, according to PTI and Bar and Bench, that the report described every kind of cracker as available in the market, licensed or unlicensed, with or without a QR code (the scannable code each certified box must carry), and asked Bhati to take a note of it. The Times of India’s account, based on Bar and Bench, calls them alleged violations.
The reports read describe oral remarks from the bench. None of them mentions a written order from the 3 November hearing, and none gives a reply from the government side.
What the HT report says it found in Delhi markets
Hindustan Times said its reporters visited markets on 22 October and again on 2 November. It reported firecrackers on open sale in Chandni Chowk, Sadar Bazaar, Shastri Nagar, Sarojini Nagar and New Friends Colony, among other places, with boxes labelled “green crackers”, “pollution-free” and “zero pollution”.
According to the newspaper, conventional crackers were available on request, often from hidden stock or nearby warehouses. Several boxes had no QR code, and some codes opened an online catalogue instead of a product certificate. It also said some sellers were taking advance orders for home delivery. These are the newspaper’s findings. The court has not ruled on them, and no trader has been named in the reports read.
Green crackers in Delhi: what the order allows and what was reported
The rules come from the court’s order dated 29 October 2026 in the long-running Arjun Gopal case, which was released on 2 November. NewsPlainly read the 23-page order and set its directions beside what the HT report says it found.
| Issue | What the order requires | What HT reported |
|---|---|---|
| Who sells, and when | Cancelled trader licences restored only from 4 to 6 November | Crackers on display before the sale window opened |
| Where | Only at sites chosen by district officials and police; no other place, including online | Advance orders taken for home delivery |
| What | Only green crackers approved by NEERI, in sealed boxes; no strings (laris) and no barium | Conventional crackers available on request, from hidden stock |
| QR code | One per product and batch, showing maker, NEERI registration, licence, formulation and test certificate | Some boxes had none; some codes led to online catalogues |
NEERI is the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, a laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) that tests and lists green crackers. PESO, the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation, licenses their manufacture. The order allows makers holding both approvals to manufacture only green crackers uploaded on NEERI’s website.
The Delhi firecracker sale rules buyers and sellers must follow
For families, the order sets two daily windows on 7 and 8 November: 6 am to 7 am and 8 pm to 10 pm. That is three hours a day in all, by NewsPlainly’s count. No crackers may be burst within 300 metres of hospitals, nursing homes, health centres, old-age homes, notified silence zones or educational institutions. These are to be marked on the ground as no-cracker zones.
A buyer’s two checks are the seal on the box and the QR code. The order says shops must put up banners explaining how to spot an approved green cracker, the sale and bursting dates, and how to complain about a trader who breaks the rules. Shopkeepers must also display a copy of the directions. The order itself does not give a helpline number.
For traders, the stakes are higher. Authorities must collect what the order calls a “handsome” security deposit from every maker and seller in Delhi-NCR, with the amount left to them, and it is forfeited on any violation. A restored licence is to be cancelled at once if the holder breaks the rules. Selling a QR code to someone else is itself a violation.
Police and district officials in the National Capital Region must form patrol teams for the sale sites, check QR codes at random, seize illegal or conventional crackers and start prosecutions. They must also check vehicles entering Delhi-NCR to stop illegal stock coming in. NewsPlainly’s earlier report on the green cracker windows for 7 and 8 November covers the bursting rules in more detail.
Why the court eased the firecracker ban this year
The order says a blanket ban “seems to be the ideal solution”, but that the court is short of adequate data to decide whether a complete ban is the best answer to pollution from crackers. It also records that, despite the ban, conventional firecrackers “were sold and continue to be sold under the guise of Green Crackers”. In the court’s view, the ban was helping illegal sellers while keeping tested green crackers out of reach.
The bench called non-implementation of its earlier directions a recurring problem, and chose to regulate green crackers for a short period instead. On 3 November, within a day of the order’s release, the same enforcement question was back before the bench.
The case began in 2015 as a petition filed on behalf of three children, including Arjun Gopal, seeking a ban on firecrackers in Delhi-NCR because of their harmful effects on children and other vulnerable groups, Hindustan Times reported. This year’s permission to burst crackers is granted on the same lines as the court’s order of 15 October 2025.
What happens after Diwali
The complete firecracker ban returns on 9 November 2026. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), with state pollution boards, must report daily air quality for three stretches: 2 to 6 November, 7 and 8 November, and 9 to 30 November, with sand and water samples for comparison.
Officials must also file affidavits on the security deposits, the sale sites and patrols, the seizures and prosecutions, and the rise in hospital admissions in Delhi-NCR up to 30 November. These are due by 14 December 2026, and the order warns of contempt action against officials who do not comply. The court will take up the applications again on 16 December.
Frequently asked questions
Did the Supreme Court pass a new order on firecracker sales on 3 November?
The reports read by NewsPlainly describe oral remarks: the bench asked the Additional Solicitor General to look into the HT report and take note of it. They did not mention a written order from the hearing.
When can green crackers be sold and burst in Delhi-NCR?
The order dated 29 October restores cancelled trader licences from 4 to 6 November for sale of approved green crackers at designated sites. Bursting is allowed from 6 am to 7 am and 8 pm to 10 pm on 7 and 8 November.
How can a buyer check a green cracker box?
The order says every box must be sealed and carry a QR code for that product and batch. Scanning it should show the manufacturer, NEERI registration, PESO or DM licence, formulation and test certificate.