MADURAI
A Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and S.S. Sundar of the Madurai Bench of the Madas High Court has reserved its orders on a public interest litigation petition that sought a direction to declare the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, unconstitutional and void. The court impleaded the Director General of Police in the case.
The petitioner, K. Nandhagopal of Virudhunagar, said that under the COTPA, tobacco and tobacco products could be manufactured, distributed and sold as long as nicotine contents in them did not exceed the maximum permissible limit.
However, the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and the subsequent 2009 Rules prohibited tobacco and nicotine from being used as an ingredient in any food product. Further the State government banned the manufacture, storage and distribution of gutka and any other product containing tobacco and nicotine.
Under such circumstances, the COTPA served no practical purpose. In order to ensure that people did not circumvent the ban on the sale of gutka by selling tobacco and tobacco products under the COTPA, it was necessary to declare the Act unconstitutional, the petitioner said.
