The Delhi ban on tobacco products is extended by LG V K Saxena
Delhi According to representatives of Raj Niwas, Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has prolonged the prohibition on the production and sale of tobacco products in Delhi, including gutkha and paan masala, for an additional year.
According to the Lt. Governor, tobacco products are now harming children and teenagers, and this threat has to be controlled for the sake of the next generation. He emphasized that the notice must be vigorously enforced and that the city would not stand for any lax implementation of it.
According to an official, “The Lt Governor has issued these orders banning tobacco products, (Gutkha/Paan Masala), while exercising his powers under Article 239 AA (4) of the Constitution of India, giving the issue of public health the utmost importance and in light of the rising number of oral cancer cases in the capital.” Special rules relating to Delhi are covered under Article 239AA.
Under the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the government of India has banned and limited the sale of goods containing tobacco and nicotine to be used as ingredients in any food items. Following clearance by the LG, the Delhi government’s Food Safety Department would shortly publish a notice extending the ban, the official added.
“This action will forbid the manufacture, storage, distribution, and sale of tobacco (flavoring, scenting, or mixed with any addictive) and going by the name or form of Gutka, Paan Masala, flavoured/scented tobacco, Kharra, or otherwise by whosoever,” he added. The official stated that these prohibited items, which include packaged and unpackaged tobacco products, would continue to be in effect for another year.
He said the Delhi High Court had also upheld the food safety commissioner’s prohibition on the production, storage, and sale of gutka, paan masala, flavor-infused tobacco, and similar goods in the nation’s capital in April of this year.
According to the official, it also overturned a September 2022 decision by a single judge of the High Court that had invalidated the ban, allowed the Centre and Delhi government’s appeals against it, and dismissed the arguments made by entities in the tobacco industry against earlier prohibition notifications issued from 2015 to 2021.
