Supreme Court Imposes Nationwide Ban On Barium-Based Firecrackers

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the directive against the use of barium and prohibition of chemicals in fireworks are extended to all states in India, not limited to Delhi-NCR.

The statement was made during a hearing where an application sought guidelines for the State of Rajasthan to adhere to the Supreme Court's directives concerning the prohibition of barium-based crackers and the reduction of air and noise pollution during the festive season.

Asserting that no new directives were necessary, the Court specifically instructed the state of Rajasthan to pay heed to prior rulings and reiterated that its mandates are mandatory for all states across the nation.

"At this juncture, no specific order will be necessary in as much as this Court in the course of hearing the petitions has passed several orders, where steps have been indicated to minimise and avoid air as well as noise pollution. Hence the said orders will bind every state in the country, including the state of Rajasthan. Therefore, we make it clear that the state of Rajasthan would also take note of this and take all steps to minimize air and noise pollution, not only during the festival season, but even thereafter" Livelaw quoted a bench of Justice A S Bopanna and Justice M M Sundresh as saying.

In 2021, the Supreme Court issued a series of guidelines to prevent the use of prohibited chemicals in fireworks before Diwali. The bench emphasized that there wasn't a complete prohibition on firecrackers and only those containing barium salts were banned. Green crackers, in accordance with the 2018 directives from the Supreme Court, are allowed.

Back in 2018, the apex court enforced a ban on the sale and usage of firecrackers and subsequently declared that these restrictions would persist and be rigorously enforced.