"We do not want all children to become ninjas," a senior lawyer told the Supreme Court on Thursday, taking a cue from Chief Justice H L Dattu's reference to his grandson looking like a ninja by wearing a mask to avoid high levels of pollution in Delhi.

The remark was made by Kapil Sibal when the apex court was hearing a plea filed by three infants against the use of loud firecrackers during the festivals of Diwali and Dussehra.

Ninjas were known to carry out espionage and covert activities, often in disguise, during the 16th and 17th century in Japan.

Sharing the concerns expressed by senior lawyers Sibal and K K Venugopal on the issue, a bench headed by the Chief Justice, however, said it would be difficult to pass an interim order, but sought responses from the Centre and the Delhi government on the matter. "Issuing notice is fine. But issuing any interim order is not feasible right now," the bench, also comprising Justices Arun Mishra and Adarsh Kumar Goel, said.