SC tough on pictorial warnings, asks tobacco industry to adhere to rules
The Karnataka Beedi Manufacturers and others moved the Supreme Court for stay of the rules.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the tobacco industry to adhere to rules requiring stringent health warnings on cigarette packs to cover 85 per cent of the tobacco packs sold in India.
A bench of Justices Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Amitav Roy passed this order on a batch of petitions challenging the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Pack-ing and Labelling) Amend-ment Rules, 2014, notified in January this year to come into effect from April 1, 2016.
Observing that the tobacco industry owed a duty to society, the bench said the petitioners should not violate any rule prevailing as of today. The petitioners challenged the rules as ultra vires of the Act in the High Courts of Karnataka, Bombay, Delhi and Gujarat and except in the Dharwad bench of Karnataka they did not get relief from implementation.
The Karnataka Beedi Manufacturers and others moved the Supreme Court for stay of the rules. Taking note of the submissions, the Bench in its brief order said that the petitioners should endeavour to implement the rules till the Karnataka High Court to which all petitions are transferred rendered its final judgement. The stay granted by Dharwad bench shall not be implemented by the parties till the outcome of the petitions.