New Delhi: In order to check the air pollution aggravated due to bursting of firecrackers, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed that only green firecrackers would be sold in the country which are less polluting, but refused to impose a blanket ban on firecrackers.

A bench of justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan banned the online sale of firecrackers and restrained e-commerce websites like Amazon and Flipkart from selling them.

The apex court also said that selling of 'larries' or series firecrackers will not be allowed in the country and permitted the bursting of firecrackers only at designated places. It also fixed the timing for bursting of firecrackers.

It said bursting of firecrackers will be allowed till 10 pm on Diwali and for New Year and Christmas celebrations, bursting will be allowed between 11:45 pm to 12:30 am.

The bench said that the order on restriction of firecrackers would be applicable across the country and people would be liable to face contempt for not complying with the directions.

The apex court had in August said it needs to take into account all aspects, including the fundamental right of livelihood of manufacturers and the right to health of over 1.3 billion people in the country, while considering the pleas seeking ban on firecrackers.

On October 9 last year, the apex court had temporarily banned the sale of firecrackers ahead of Diwali in Delhi-NCR region. The court had said that the order would be an experiment to examine the effects of the ban on pollution levels in the region. The ban was lifted on November 1.

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