look news india
Mumbai: It is not the Uttar Pradesh government that is concerned about the health of the residents here, but the Maharashtra government. Therefore, we cannot lift the ban on Pan Masala, Bombay High Court has refused to stay the order given to the company selling Pan Masala. The petition of a pan masala selling company demanding removal of the ban on pan masala in the state was being heard. After hearing the arguments of both the sides, the court has fixed further hearing on April 1.
The company registered in Noida, UP claimed that there is no ban on Pan Masala there and demanded removal of the ban in the High Court. Citizens of Uttar Pradesh also come to Mumbai's Tata Hospital for treatment of cancer caused by tobacco products, so the state government claimed that the ban on pan masala was justified.
The Food and Drug Administration of Maharashtra issued a GR on July 18, 2023, extending the ban on gutkha, flavored panmasala and similar tobacco-derived substances by one year across the state. According to this order, producers were banned from supplying, distributing, transporting or selling tobacco or betel nut for an entire year. A pan masala company challenged this decision in the High Court. We have said in the application that we are not related to tobacco products and we ourselves have challenged the ban on selling pan masala and scented betel nuts.
The petitioner had taken permission from the Commissioner of Food and Safety Department to sell and manufacture pan masala, but the same was canceled by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. The company's petition claimed that the authority does not have the power to cancel the original license and its closure is in violation of the provisions of the Act and rules.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India filed an affidavit denying all the allegations in the petition. The ban imposed by the state government on pan masala and related tobacco products in 2012 is still permanent. The state government took the decision of bandh after studying it. The petitioner has challenged the order after 12 years. Also, no report has been presented in the court that the Panmasala of this company is not harmful for health. Therefore it was requested that their demand be rejected.
Maharashtra was the first state in the country to ban gutkha. Under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, the State Government has, in the interest of public health, banned the manufacture, sale or storage or distribution of Gutkha or Pan Masala, a substance derived from tobacco.
