Goa, Sept. 13 -- The Supreme Court of India has asked why firecracker bans and pollution control policies are being applied only in Delhi and its National Capital Region (NCR), stating that clean air should be a right for all citizens, not just those living in the capital.

In a hearing over a plea challenging the April 3 order that imposes a complete ban on the manufacture, storage, sale and use of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR, Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran questioned the selective nature of the restriction.

"If citizens in NCR are entitled to clean air, why not people of other cities?...Whatever policy has to be there, it should be at the pan-India level. We cannot make a policy only for Delhi because the...