Delhi Firecrackers Sold Openly Despite Ban, Supreme Court Orders Look

India's Supreme Court voiced concern on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, over reports that banned firecrackers are being sold openly in Delhi's markets, days before Diwali. A bench of Justices M. M. Sundresh and Prasanna B. Varale took up a Hindustan Times report that carried photographs of firecrackers on open sale across the capital. The bench pointed to the photograph and asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, who appeared for the Centre, the Delhi government and the Commission for Air Quality Management, to look into the report and act.

Hindustan Times said its reporters visited markets on October 22 and again on November 2. They reported firecrackers on open sale in Chandni Chowk, Sadar Bazaar, Shastri Nagar, Sarojini Nagar and New Friends Colony, among other areas, with boxes carrying labels such as green crackers, pollution-free and zero pollution. The court reports describe oral remarks from the bench. No written order came out of the November 3 hearing, and no government reply was reported.

The rules the court had just set

The remarks landed one day after the court's Diwali order became public. The order, dated October 29, 2026, in the long-running Arjun Gopal case, eased the year-round firecracker ban for the festival on strict terms. Only certified green crackers, approved by CSIR-NEERI, may be sold, and only from November 4 to November 6 at designated sites. Cancelled trader licences are restored for that window only. Bursting is allowed on November 7 and November 8, Diwali day itself, in two short windows: 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Series crackers, known as ladis, and any mix using barium salts stay banned in full. The complete ban returns on November 9, 2026.

Why it matters

Delhi's air is already poor before a single festival cracker is lit. On Tuesday, the air quality index in Delhi stood at 215 on the IQAir scale, and India's Central Pollution Control Board rated the capital's air in the poor to very poor range, with graded curbs on polluting vehicles and construction already in force since Monday. Across the border, Lahore recorded an AQI of 447 early on Tuesday, the worst city reading in the world that morning. The court's worry is practical: if ordinary banned stock reaches buyers before the legal green-cracker window even opens on November 4, the labels on the boxes will mean nothing on Diwali night.

What happens next

The legal sale window opens on Wednesday, November 4, and runs to November 6. The pollution board and state boards must file daily air quality reports for November 2 to 6, for November 7 and 8, and for the weeks after Diwali. What the Centre and the Delhi government report back on the market sales will decide whether the court tightens the rules before the festival weekend.