A lawsuit was filed against the Indian government to require that alcohol, cigarette, and bidi manufacturers disclose a list of ingredients on the product package. Based on an assurance from the government that it would set up a method to test the tar and nicotine contents of tobacco products within one year, the court dismissed the case. The government pledged to create a main research laboratory and 5 regional testing labs to test the tar and nicotine content of tobacco products. The court noted that if the government fails to meet the projected timeline then it would be open to revisiting the lawsuit.
Puneet Gupta v. Union of India, et al, W.P. (Civil) No. 18440 of 2004, High Court of Delhi at New Delhi (2008).
An individual or organization may sue their own government in order to advance or protect the public interest. For example, an NGO may sue the government claiming the government’s weak tobacco control laws violated their constitutional right to health.
Any combustible tobacco product that is designed to be smoked – other than cigarettes – including cigars, cigarillos, little cigars, blunts, and bidis or beedis (small, flavored filterless Indian cigarettes).
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"It is most respectfully submitted that the proposal for the National Tobacco Control Programme is presently with the Finance Expenditure Committee. Thereafter, the same shall be submitted for approval before the Cabinet. Subsequently it will take 8 months to 1 year for setting up the above mentioned laboratories. In view of the aforementioned statement made on affidavit which reveals the willingness of respondents to implement the provisions of the Tobacco Act 2003, it is not necessary to issue any further directions at this stage."
Limitations regarding the use of quotes The quotes provided here reflect statements from a specific decision. Accordingly, the International Legal Consortium (ILC) cannot guarantee that an appellate court has not reversed a lower court decision which may influence the applicability or influence of a given quote. All quotes have been selected based on the subjective evaluations undertaken by the ILC meaning that quotes provided here may not accurately or comprehensively represent a given court’s opinion or conclusion, as such quotes may have originally appeared alongside other negative opinions or accompanying facts. Further, some quotes are derived from unofficial English translations, which may alter their original meaning. We emphasize the need to review the original decision and related decisions before authoritatively relying on quotes. Using quotes provided here should not be construed as legal advice and is not intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter in any jurisdiction. Please see the full limitations at https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/about.
A lawsuit was filed against the Indian government to require that alcohol, cigarette, and bidi manufacturers disclose a list of ingredients on the product package. Based on an assurance from the government that it would set up a method to test the tar and nicotine contents of tobacco products within one year, the court dismissed the case. The government pledged to create a main research laboratory and 5 regional testing labs to test the tar and nicotine content of tobacco products. The court noted that if the government fails to meet the projected timeline then it would be open to revisiting the lawsuit.