Bombay High Court orders year-round curbs on firecracker noise, grounding it in Article 21

The Bombay High Court has directed a complete, year-round ban on bursting firecrackers on public streets and roads during any festival — not only Diwali — and an absolute restraint in designated silence zones such as near hospitals, courts, schools and government offices, in a suo motu public interest litigation on noise and environmental pollution. The directions came in connected petitions, including one by Akshay Gautamrao Bikkad and another by Ajay Mansukhlal Chauhan, both against the State of Maharashtra. The Division Bench grounded the directions in Article 21 of the Constitution, holding that the right to life includes a right to a clean and healthy environment, read together with the fundamental duties under Article 51A(g) and (j) to protect the environment and to strive for excellence.

It applied the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, in particular the provisions on ambient noise standards and silence zones, and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, following the Supreme Court's earlier ruling In re: Noise Pollution (V). The Court directed the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and the police to appoint nodal officers, set up complaint helplines and run public awareness campaigns within a week. This is a Bombay High Court ruling binding within Maharashtra, applying principles the Supreme Court has already laid down.