NOIDA: The district administration on Sunday registered FIRs against 44 retailers for selling crackers banned by the Supreme Court . These sellers were among 82 in the district who had been issued licences to sell only ‘green crackers.’The FIRs, lodged under the Indian Evidence Act and Explosives Act of 1986 in Sector 24 and Phase 2 police stations, followed orders by the district magistrate.The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had on Friday sought a written explanation from the DM on how crackers banned by the apex court had been sold openly. The DM has been given seven days to respond.The district administration had issued conditional licences to 82 cracker retailers in total, despite officials admitting in private that ‘green crackers’ were not available in the market. But the 66 sellers who accepted the licences were made to sign an undertaking that they will not sell any cracker banned by the court.The sellers had questioned the point of issuing a licence when no cracker specified under the terms was available in the market.The decision to issue the licences had raised eyebrows , especially when Delhi and Gurgaon had not issued a single permit in the absence of any green cracker in the market.The FIRs were lodged by the city magistrate himself. Following the CPCB notice, the DM had asked the city magistrate to explain how crackers banned by the Supreme Court were sold and burst openly on Diwali night on November 7.On Saturday, DM BN Singh ordered FIRs against all retailers found guilty of selling traditional crackers.Pankaj Pant, the SHO of Sector 24 police station, said they would now carry out an investigation to find out if the sellers mentioned in the FIR indeed sold banned crackers. A decision on whether to arrest them will be taken thereafter. While issuing the licences, the retailers had been told to sell crackers only from a makeshift market at Sector 33 and Bhangel.Of the 44 FIRs, 30 were lodged at Sector 24 police station and the remaining at Phase 2 police station.

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