New Delhi, Sept. 30 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday permitted the use of "specified next generation joint green crackers" while refusing to impose a total ban on firecrackers, saying such a prohibition would hurt public sentiments, even as it gave the Centre and expert bodies time till October 15 to complete their assessment of the impact of barium content in other green crackers on ambient air quality.

A bench of justices MM Sundresh and PB Varale said the court would neither permit a blanket ban on firecrackers nor allow their unrestricted use for 24 hours, stressing the need to strike a balance between environmental concerns and public sentiment.

"We will neither allow a total ban nor will we allow 24 hours bursting of crackers eve...