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Firecracker regulation: green crackers, PESO licensing and Arjun Gopal

By CAShorts DeskPublished Updated Source: Supreme Court (Arjun Gopal, 2018); PIB; CSIR-NEERI; PESO; Hindustan Times

Why in news: On 12 October 2026, a Supreme Court Bench hearing Delhi-NCR's air pollution case said it was not inclined to impose a blanket firecracker ban.

Firecracker regulation: green crackers, PESO licensing and Arjun Gopal
Illustration (AI-generated)

India regulates firecrackers on three tracks: PESO licenses them under the Explosives Act, 1884; CSIR-NEERI certifies green crackers, which it says cut emissions by about 30%; and the Supreme Court's Arjun Gopal judgment of 2018 allows only improved and green crackers, at fixed hours. On 12 October 2026, the Court heard the Delhi-NCR firecracker question again.

Syllabus: GS2 · Constitution; Prelims · Environment & Ecology; GS3 · Science & Technology

Why this matters for UPSC

GS3 environmental pollution and GS2 fundamental rights: Prelims can ask what green crackers leave out and which body licenses fireworks under the Explosives Act, 1884; Mains, how Article 25 and Article 21 are balanced.

In short

Firecrackers are explosives in Indian law, licensed by PESO under the Explosives Act, 1884; regulating them weighs festive practice (Article 25) against health and clean air (Article 21).

Three tracks of crackerregulationPESO licensingunder ExplosivesActCSIR-NEERI greencrackercertificationArjun Gopal fixedhours

Regulation over prohibition is defensible, but it works only if testing, QR verification and public persuasion make green-cracker limits real on the street.

Why it matters

A family buying sparklers for Diwali, a worker in a fireworks unit and an asthmatic child in Delhi are all touched by these rules. Cracker smoke adds fine particles (PM2.5) to winter air that is already poor, and children, the elderly and the sick suffer most. A total ban, on the other hand, would shut an industry that, by the Science and Technology Minister's 2018 figure, turned over more than Rs 6,000 crore a year and supported five lakh families. Green crackers and fixed hours are the middle path between the two. Their weak point is enforcement: time limits are hard to police street by street, as the amicus curiae told the Court at the 12 October 2026 hearing.

Prelims pointers

  • PESO: under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry; administers the Explosives Act, 1884 and the Petroleum Act, 1934.
  • CSIR-NEERI, Nagpur: a CSIR laboratory; CSIR's Director General is also Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Science and Technology.
  • Green crackers: no barium, lead, arsenic or mercury; SWAS and STAR drop potassium nitrate and sulphur; SAFAL uses minimal aluminium.
  • Article 25: freedom of conscience and religion, subject to public order, morality, health and the other provisions of Part III.
  • Article 21: right to life, read by the Supreme Court to include the right to health and a clean environment.
  • Article 19(1)(g): right to carry on any trade or business, subject to reasonable restrictions under Article 19(6).
  • Commission for Air Quality Management: statutory body under a 2021 Act for air quality in the National Capital Region and adjoining areas.
  • Precautionary principle: accepted in Vellore Citizens' Welfare Forum (1996); Arjun Gopal applied it to firecrackers.

Practise a UPSC-style question

With reference to the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), consider the following statements:

1. It administers the Explosives Act, 1884 and the Petroleum Act, 1934 and the rules made under them.

2. It functions under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a) 1 only
  2. (b) 2 only
  3. (c) Both 1 and 2
  4. (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Show the answer

Answer: (a) 1 only

1 is correct: PESO's main work is administering the Explosives Act, 1884 and the Petroleum Act, 1934 and their rules, including licences for fireworks. 2 is incorrect: PESO comes under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, not the Environment Ministry.

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