File compliance report on gutka ban, SC asks States
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The Hindu
A view of the Supreme Court of India in New Delhi. File photo: V. Sudershan
Centre’s order not being implemented effectively, says ASG
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed 23 States and five Union
Territories to file a compliance report in four weeks on implementation
of the ban on gutka and pan masala containing tobacco or nicotine.
A Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and Kurian Joseph directed the others
to explain why they had not imposed the ban so far and to indicate a
time frame for doing so. The Bench passed this order after Additional
Solicitor-General Indira Jaising brought to its notice an August 12,
2012 circular issued by the Centre advising all States and Union
Territories to ban gutka and pan masala. She said though 23 States and
five Union Territories had imposed the ban, the order was not being
implemented effectively.
Prashant Bhushan, who appeared for the HFM Trust, and Shri Vishnu Behari
Tewari, appearing on behalf of the Indian Dental Association, demanded a
nationwide ban on all forms of chewing tobacco products. Mr. Bhushan
said the ban was not being properly enforced as there was no control
over manufacturing units.
During the hearing, the Bench remarked that manufactures were misleading
people and creating confusion, and selling gutka and pan masala in
separate sachets.
Already 23 States — Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, Maharashtra, Himachal
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Punjab,
Uttarakhand, Mizoram, Delhi, Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Nagaland,
Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh —
and five Union Territories including Chandigarh, Dadar Nagar Haveli,
Daman & Diu, Andaman & Nicobar have banned the sale, manufacture
and distribution of gutka, khaini and pan masala containing tobacco,
based on the regulation issued on August 1, 2011 by the Food Safety and
Standards Authority of India, a statutory body under the Health
Ministry. In a connected matter, the Bench, after hearing Additional
Solicitor-General Mohan Jain, issued notice to the Central and State
pollution control boards seeking to know how they handled and disposed
of plastic waste.
Justice Singhvi, after going through data, observed: “We are becoming a
time bomb. When it happens, all valleys will go. The data is frightening
and steps needed to be taken as plastic waste will affect not only this
generation but generations to come.”
The Bench said it would first examine the disposal system in the cities
of Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Agra, Jaipur and Faridabad, and issued
notice to their Municipal Commissioners asking them to file their
responses.
Mr. Mohan Jain, in a note submitted to the court, said the total
quantity of plastics manufactured in the country as per a 2008
estimation was eight million tonnes per year. As per a survey conducted
by the Central Pollution Control Board in 60 major cities, the average
plastic waste generation was 843.2 tonnes out of the total municipal
solid waste of 50,592 tonnes per day.
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