Delhi LG extends ban on manufacture, sale of tobacco products for one year

The ban on tobacco products (gutkha, paan masala) in Delhi has been extended for a further period of one year.

New Delhi: Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has extended the ban on tobacco products (gutkha, paan masala) in Delhi for a further period of one year, said an official statement on Wednesday.

According to an official LG Office press note, the LG while invoking his powers provided under Article 239 AA (4) of the Constitution of India, has issued these orders giving utmost importance to the issue of public health and in light of rising number of oral cancer cases in the Capital.

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The LG also specified that it is now affecting children and youngsters and this menace should be contained for the future generation. He stressed that the notification needs to be enforced strictly and no lackadaisical attitude towards enforcement in the city will be tolerated, said the statement. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, under regulation 2.3.4. of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011, has prohibited and restricted sale of products containing tobacco and nicotine to be used as ingredients in any food products, it added. The statement further said that the Food Safety Department of the GNCTD will issue a notification extending the ban, following this approval by LG soon.

This move will prohibit the manufacture, storage, distribution and sale of tobacco (flavoured, scented or mixed with any addictive) and going by the name or form of Gutka, Paan Masala, flavoured/scented tobacco, Kharra or otherwise by whosoever, said the statement. The official statement said that the banned products includes, packed or unpacked tobacco products and it will remain enforced for further one year under Clause (A) of Sub Section (2) of Section 30 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

In April this year, the Delhi High Court had also affirmed a ban imposed by the food safety commissioner on manufacture, storage and sale of Gutka, Paan Masala, flavoured tobacco and similar products in the Delhi.

The Court also set aside a September 2022 decision of a single judge of the High Court quashing the ban and allowed the appeals filed by the Centre and Delhi government against it and dismissed the objections raised by entities in tobacco business against the prohibition notifications issued earlier from 2015 till 2021, said the statement.