Plea to declare ban on gutka is not applicable to 'Hans Chhap\"
Kerala high court has already held that chewing tobacco was not a food product and hence set aside the ban imposed by the Commissioner of Food safety.
Chennai: Contending that chewing tobacco was not a food product, a petition has been filed in Madras High Court to declare that the ban imposed by Food Safety and Drug Administration, with regard to manufacture, storage, distribution or sale of gutka, pan masala, chewing tobacco and any other food product containing tobacco or nicotine as ingredient, is not applicable to the tobacco product under the brand name 'Hans Chhap".
Justice M. Govindarajan before whom the petition filed by V.R.Arumugam & Co represented by its proprietor A. Srinivasan came up for hearing, adjourned it to June 23, after Special government pleader sought time to file counter.
According to Srinivasan, the petitioner was a registered dealer and it buys and sells tobacco and tobacco products sold under the brand name ‘hans chhap tobacco’. The product Hans Chhap was made of tobacco only and no eatables have been included in the manufacture of the product.
The state food laboratory at Hyderabad has issued a report relating to the contents of the Hans Chap and as per the report, no eatables were included in the product and hence the notification issued by the Commissioner of Food Safety and Drug Administration was not applicable to the products dealt by the petitioners.
The product was nothing but a tobacco and tobacco product as falling under item 6 in the schedule to the cigarettes and other tobacco products (Prohibition of advertisement and regulation of trade and commerce, production, supply and distribution) Act (CTP Act).
The product of the petitioner was a tobacco product and hence the provisions of CTP Act will apply and not the Food Safety and Standards Act. The Kerala high court has already held that chewing tobacco was not a food product and hence set aside the ban imposed by the Commissioner of Food safety. It has been followed by Madras High Court.
The Patna High Court also held that tobacco was not food as defined in the FSSA. Despite the decisions of the high courts, the Commissioner of Food Safety has issued the notification. The petitioner was unnecessarily harassed by the authorities. Any consignment containing tobacco products were being detained and seized and subsequently even destroyed without furnishing any written document to the petitioner, he alleged.