Need to consider both economic and health aspects of people: SC

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it needs to take into account all aspects, including the fundamental right of livelihood of firecracker manufacturers and the right to health of over 1.3 billion people in the country, while considering a plea for their ban.

The top court said the Arti- cle 21 (right to life) of Constitution applies to both segments of people and it needs to maintain a balance while considering a countrywide ban on firecrackers.

A bench of justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan asked the Centre to file an affidavit giving details of measures to be taken for curbing pollution and what is the effect of firecrackers on the public at large.

“There are economic aspects attached to it. The government affidavit says there are 1,750 firecrackers manufacturing industries in Tamil Nadu, which employs 5,000 families directly or indirectly. It says firecrackers industries are worth Rs 6,000 crore. We have to see what is the relevance of economic aspect on the fundamental rights,” the bench said.

It added, “There is fundamental right to livelihood of manufacturers and at the same time there is fundamental right to health for 130 crore people of this country. We have to keep in mind the cost of manufacturing and the cost of health. Although it is difficult to collect exact data of people suffering from respiratory problems and other health issues from different hospitals.”

Senior advocate Dhruv Mehta, appearing for firecrackers manufacturers said regulatory provisions exist and as far as pollution or the impact from bursting of firecrackers is concerned, there is no comprehensive study on the subject.

To this, the bench said the provisions which exists are made from the point of view of safety from firecrackers but these provisions are not related to their environmental impact.

Mehta said not enough material is available on record to suggest that the firecrackers should be banned due to their impact on environment and health.

The bench, replied that petitioners who are seeking a ban on firecrackers have contended that damage to health is such that it is remediless.

Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, appearing for Tamil Nadu said the apex court had earlier directed for conducting a study and constitution of a committee, which has not been complied with.

The bench, then asked Centre what is stand and solution to the problem of pollution caused due to bursting of firecrackers.