A policy to curb pollution cannot exist only for Delhi, just because they are the "elite citizens of the country", the Supreme Court remarked on Friday.
"If the cities of NCR (National Capital Region) have the right to clean air, then why don't the people of other cities? Whatever policy is there, it should be at the pan-India level. We cannot make a policy only for Delhi just because they are the elite class of the country," Chief Justice of India BR Gavai said.
The top court made the remarks while hearing a plea against its April 3 order that banned the sale, storage, transportation and manufacture of fire crackers in Delhi-NCR region.
"I went to Amritsar last winter and the pollution there was worse than Delhi. If firecrackers are to be banned, then it should be in the whole country," the Chief Justice said.
During the hearing, senior advocate Aparajita Singh, the amicus curiae in the Delhi pollution case, said "the elite class takes care of itself". "Whenever there is pollution, they move out of Delhi," she said.
In April, a top court bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said a large section of the population worked on streets and was the worst affected by pollution. Not everybody can afford an air purifier at their residence or place of work to fight pollution, the bench said.
"Several orders passed by this court during the last six months bring on the record the horrible situation with which prevailed in Delhi due to very high levels of air pollution...Right to health is an essential part of Article 21 of the constitution so is the Right to live in a pollution free atmosphere," it said.
Unless the court was satisfied that the pollution due to the "so-called" green crackers was bare minimum, there was no question of reconsidering the previous orders, it added.
The top court said the orders passed from time to time would indicate that the directions and ban on the use of firecrackers was warranted by an "extraordinary situation" created in Delhi.
