The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Union of India on an application from the Centre for Public Interest Litigation alleging that though 14 States had banned gutkha, the ban was not being effectively implemented.
A Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and S.J. Mukhopadaya issued notice; seeking the government's reply on the plea by the NGO.
Appearing for the NGO, counsel Prashant Bhushan said that only gutkha (mixture of pan masala and tobacco) was banned by 14 States. Neither pure tobacco nor pan masala (without tobacco) was banned and as a result manufacture was still going on.
The application said the court imposed a complete prohibition on the use of plastic material for packing of tobacco products, gutkha and pan masala.
“If gutkha and chewing tobacco is banned, leaving pan masala alone, then the implementation of such a ban is rendered impossible as manufacturers will pass on their tobacco-laden pan masala as ‘sada’ pan masala or tobacco-free pan masala. Pan masala consumption too is linked to high rates of oral cancer,” Shri Bhushan noted.
The counsel alleged that the order passed by the apex court on December 7, 2010 for prohibition of such products were “wilfully and brazenly” violated by some manufacturers who sold them under other “misleading” nomenclature and some others dumped their products under the “for export” tag.
The application said that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, a statutory body set-up under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 had on August 5 last year banned gutka and other chewing tobacco products.
It sought direction from the bench that disobeying their order would make the manufacturer liable under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, Food Safety And Standards Act, 2006, and for contempt of court.
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