Yesterday, the Supreme Court told Delhi Police that filing cases against people who burn firecrackers may not help in curbing sale of firecrackers.

The matter was heard before the division bench of Justices AS Bopanna and MM Sundresh 

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan appearing for the petitioners, submitted that it was the poor people who were suffering from the issues of pollution.

"..people living on streets suffer while the rich burn crackers worth lakhs of rupees and go back to their homes with air purifiers...", he added.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to interfere with the Delhi government's order imposing a blanket ban on the manufacture, storage, sale and bursting of firecrackers in the capital.

Earlier, Supreme Court directed Delhi Police to submit the report regarding the same matter, 

To this, ASG Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for Delhi Police, submitted a status report before Court.

"Filing cases against people who burn crackers may not help, you have to nip it in the bud...", the bench said after perusing the report.

To this, ASG Bhati responded saying, "Centre is dealing with air pollution, but if pollution is still high despite the ban, is it only firecrackers contributing to it..The licensing unit has not granted any licenses since 2016.."

While refusing to interfere in the matter, the bench told North East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari, "You should explain to the people that they should not burst crackers. Even during the victory procession after the elections, you should not burst crackers. More ways to celebrate victory."

To deal with high pollution levels, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai announced a blanket ban on the manufacture, storage, sale and bursting of firecrackers in the national capital. The comprehensive directive which includes a ban on online sale of firecrackers comes ahead of the festive season. A similar complete ban was imposed during the last two years.