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Synopsis

A Supreme Court bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhansu Dhulia, on Friday, dismissed a plea seeking direction for removing designated smoking zones from commercial places and airports and increasing the age of smoking, banning the sale of cigarettes near educational institutions, healthcare institutions and places of worship.

The bench, while dismissing the plea remarked, "If you want publicity, argue a good case...Don't file publicity interest litigation”.

The PIL filed by Advocates Shubham Awasthi and Sapta Rishi Mishra sought direction to the Central Government to exercise its power in a rightful manner, and initiate scientific studies and other steps like bans etc. to control the sale and addiction of tobacco, specifically, cigarettes in the country alleging that such products affect citizen’s right to health and influence them wrongly.

The plea also mentioned the factsheet released by the World Health Organization in the year 2018 which quoted the younger population in India to be at an increased chance of Cardio-Vascular Diseases and said that tobacco including cigarettes is a major contributor in killing 9 million people in India or 9.5% of all deaths in India.

Essentially, the plea sought the following directions to the respondents:

1. To come up with plans for tackling cigarette/smoking addiction;
2. To create guidelines to handle filtration of air at places that have smoking zones;
3. For information sharing and support between different segments of the government agencies and bodies for tackling the sale of cigarettes/tobacco products to minors and enforcement of strict identity checks and creation of a penalty regime for its implementation;
4. For keeping the dedicated smoking zones at Airports, Clubs, Restaurants, Hotels, Public Places, and even Private Properties used for commercial purposes covered so as not to induce smoking among nonsmokers;
5. For closing the dedicated smoking zones at Airports, Clubs, Restaurants, Hotels, Public Places, and even Private Properties being used for commercial purposes in a phased manner so as not to induce smoking among non-smokers;
6. To the remove shops selling cigarettes near educational institutions, public buildings, places of worship, etc;
7. To ban the sale of loose cigarettes;
8. To increase the age to smoke from 18 to 21 years, and
9. Towards the creation of interim guidelines till the time proper guidelines could be formulated by the State.

Case Title: Shubham Awasthi & Anr Vs. Union of India & Ors.