# Bombay High Court slams celebrities for charging anti-firecracker fees 2026-10-26T17:16:34+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets The Bombay High Court on Monday, 26 October 2026, criticised Bollywood celebrities for demanding fees to participate in the Maharashtra government's anti-firecracker campaign. A division bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Neela Gokhale said celebrities who have gained from Mumbai must give back to society for free, and directed the state not to waste public money on paid appearances. Additional government pleader Jyoti Chavan told the court that celebrities have 'fixed rates' even for social campaigns. The bench noted that celebrities attend the Mumbai Police's annual Umang event and asked why they could not spare 15 minutes for a public cause. The court suggested approaching Marathi actors if Bollywood stars refuse to come for free. The court appreciated awareness measures by the BMC and MPCB, including ads, TV spots, and school pledges. It flagged late-night firecracker violations in slum areas and directed the involvement of ward corporators. The court also noted that the BMC will use helpline 1916 for noise complaints. The hearing was adjourned to 25 November. ## Indian Opinion Analysis LiveLaw and India Today both provide neutral-report coverage of the same hearing, with no discernible slant. LiveLaw leads with the judges' criticism of celebrities and includes the full oral remarks, while India Today places greater emphasis on the court's enforcement concerns, including helpline gaps and slum-area violations. Both outlets attribute the key quote about celebrities charging fees to Justice Kulkarni and report the same next hearing date of 25 November. The uniform coverage suggests no editorial divergence on this story, the balanced reading is that the court directed its criticism at both celebrities and enforcement gaps. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - livelaw.in (neutral report) Straight report of court remarks and BMC measures. - indiatoday.in (neutral report) Straight report, emphasises enforcement and helpline gaps. This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Tags: Bombay High Court, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Justice Girish Kulkarni, Justice Neela Gokhale, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/bombay-high-court-slams-celebrities-for-charging-anti-firecracker-fees/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/bombay-high-court-slams-celebrities-for-charging-anti-firecracker-fees/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/