In a significant development, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said that the ban imposed on the sale and use of firecrackers is not just confined to Delhi-NCR only, instead it applies to the whole country. The top court made this observation while responding to a plea over alarming high pollution levels in Udaipur, falling air quality index and lack of regulations to demarcate noise pollution levels.

It may be noted that the Supreme Court had earlier refused to lift the ban on the sale of firecrackers as it was contributing to the air pollution crisis. The Supreme Court, while upholding the ban on firecrackers, asserted that ”curbing pollution is not just the court’s duty.” “When it comes to pollution, there is a wrong perception it is the duty of courts. But it has to be everybody’s duty,” the top court said.