Reflecting the disappointment and grave concern felt by public health advocates over the Centre's decision to defer the new pictorial health warnings on tobacco products, the Health For the Millions (HFM) Trust has moved the Supreme Court. Acting on a petition from HFM, the Supreme Court earlier directed the Centre to ensure implementation of the pictorial health warnings. These were to come into force from June 1, 2010. However, the Centre on May 17 issued a notification deferring the implementation by six months. Now the HFM has filed an application seeking a stay on the notification.
According to the petitioner, the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003, was enacted to discourage and regulate consumption.
“The Act imposes progressive restrictions with a view to upholding the [people's] right to public health and achieving improvement of public health as enjoined by Articles 21 and 47 of the Constitution.”
“Deliberate delay”
But the implementation of the thrice-notified packaging and labelling warnings had been delayed by the government deliberately on industry representations. Hence, the new Rules 2010 would not be implemented forthwith.
The petitioner “seeks to ensure that the manufacturers have devised effective implementation plans for displaying the new pictorial warnings on the packages of tobacco products and given specific guidelines to their retail agents/distributors to abide by Rules 2010 by withdrawing the existing stock before the deadline of December 1, 2010.”
Stay notification
While the pictorial warnings were themselves not sufficient to educate the consumer, the Rules had been delayed repeatedly to favour the industry with no considerations of enabling consumers to take an informed decision on using tobacco products after being warned of the implications to their health. “It is a mala fide attempt to favour the industry,” the petitioner alleged and sought an interim stay on the notification.
