UBINIG v. Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh

Three non-governmental organizations challenged a public notice issued by National Tobacco Control Cell of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare permitting tobacco companies to print health warnings labels on the lower 50% of tobacco product packaging as an interim measure. Petitioners objected to the publication of the rule on procedural grounds. The Court concluded that the public notice was published without any lawful authority and, therefore, was of no legal effect.

There were three related civil petitions for leave to appeal the court's decision. However, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court found no merit in the first and second petitions and thus dismissed those. Regarding the third petition, no one appeared on behalf of the petitioner and the petition was dismissed for default. These dismissals are uploaded as 'Related Documents.'

While the initial petition was being considered, the National Tobacco Control Cell decided to withdraw the public notice, instead issuing a new notice requiring health warnings to be printed on the upper 50% of packaging beginning September 19, 2017. However, the industry challenged the rescission in the High Court, preventing it from being implemented as scheduled.

UBINIG v. Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, Writ Petition No. 11785 of 2016, High Court Division, Supreme Court of Bangladesh (2017).

  • Bangladesh
  • Jul 13, 2017
  • High Court Division, Supreme Court of Bangladesh
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Parties

Plaintiff

  • PROGGA
  • UBINIG
  • “Pratyasha” Anti-Drugs Club

Defendant Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh

Legislation Cited

Smoking and Using of Tobacco Products (Control) Act, 2005

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Public Notice Dated 16 March 2016

Related Documents

Type of Litigation

Tobacco Control Topics

Substantive Issues

None

Type of Tobacco Product

None

"The inclusion of the words and the expression…is done in clear violation of provision of law and thereafter a decision taken by the National Tobacco Control Cell dated 15.01.2017 have withdrawn the said notification and that also have not been complied with, as such, we are of the view that the public notice dated 16.03.2017 has been published without any legal authority and is of no legal effect as that has been done violation of the provisions of law..."