Delhi High Court Sets Aside Ban On Gutka Sale
NDTV
The Delhi High Court said the notifications banning gutkha sale were issued in a mechanical manner and the authorities exceeded the powers vested in them.
The Delhi High Court has quashed the notifications of the Food Safety Commissioner prohibiting the manufacture, storage, and sale of gutka, pan masala, tobacco, and similar products in the national capital in the interest of public health, saying they were issued in a mechanical manner and the authorities exceeded the powers vested in them.
The notifications were issued from time to time from 2015 to 2021.
The high court said it was conscious of the harmful effects and various diseases caused by the use of tobacco, both smokeless and smoking and that smoking is injurious to public health and added that it "accordingly condemns and discourages the use of any form of tobacco".
But, the question of law cannot be decided merely based on public consciousness and sentiments and have to be decided on a fair interpretation of the law, it said.
