All Kerala Tobacco Dealers' Association vs. State of Kerala

The court rejected the gutkha industry's prayer for an interim stay of the State of Kerala's gutkha and pan masala ban. Among other things, the court agreed with the finding of the Patna High Court in a similar matter that the Commissioner of Food Safety properly exercised his discretion to undertake a ban of these products. Finding no illegality or invalidity for the reasons stated by the petitioner, the court refused to stay operation of the ban.

All Kerala Tobacco Dealers' Association vs. State of Kerala, Civil No. 12352/2012, Kerala High Court (2012).

  • India
  • Aug 2, 2012
  • Kerala High Court
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Parties

Plaintiff All Kerala Tobacco Dealers' Association

Defendant State of Kerala

Legislation Cited

Related Documents

Type of Litigation

Tobacco Control Topics

None

Substantive Issues

None

Type of Tobacco Product

"As far as the interim prayer sought in the said writ petition is concerned, the petitioner is seeking stay of operation of Ext.P1 to the extent of prohibiting the business of manufacturing, storing, distribution, sale and marketing of petitioner's products, which are mentioned above. The point vehemently submitted by the learned Advocate General is that this Court cannot grant a general declaration in favour of a manufacturer as far as the specified products mentioned in the writ petition are concerned. It is pointed out that if the petitioner is confronted with any action, they will have to be specifically prove that the said products are not covered by the notification. In fact, it is also pointed out that a declaration as sought for, cannot be granted by a writ Court, as the same will be misutilised by the manufacturers, sellers and distributors for selling other products which will disentitle the officers from taking any action. In the counter affidavit filed in the said writ petition, in para 2 it is stated that prohibition applies only in respect of gutka and panmasala containing tobacco and nicotine as ingredients. Contentions have been raised that the products of the petitioner referred to in the writ petition, do not conform to the regulations, viz. Food Safety and Standards (Packing and Labelling) Regulations, 2011. It is also alleged that the petitioner has not disclosed, the ingredients of the products in the label. It is explained that gutka and panmasala and other similar products have sweet smell and it is difficult to detect the ·use by the students even in the classrooms or in the school/college campuses, as these items are kept under the tongue."