CRACKERS WITH CONSCIENCE

Every October, Delhi becomes a theatre of contradictions.

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The air turns dense, the warnings return, and the same debate resurfaces — can celebration coexist with responsibility? The city, smothered by smoke from stubble fires and exhaust fumes, braces for Diwali with both anticipation and dread. Amid this cycle of joy and suffocation, the Supreme Court's recent decision to allow the sale and use of green firecrackers in Delhi and the National Capital Region feels like a breath of cautious optimism. It is nota rollback of environmental concern, nor an unthinking concession to populism. It is, instead, an attempt at equilibrium — a recognition that public policy must be both compassionate and credible to succeed. The bench led by Chief Justice B.R. Gavai has chosen to take the path of moderation, balancing the right to celebrate with the obligation to protect the environment. The verdict underscores that the purpose of law is not merely to prohibit but to persuade — to steer behaviour, not stifle it. The challenge, as the Chief Justice put it succinctly, is to celebrate in moderation “without compromising with the environment.”