Tata Memorial Hospital doctors support Maha ban on gutka in HC

Tata Memorial Hospital is one of the largest cancer treatment and research centres in the country.

Admitting the petition, a division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Nitin Jamdar, which was hearing a bunch of petitions filed by the manufacturers of gutka and pan masala challenging the ban, asked the doctors to file their affidavit and submit research material showing the effects of consumption of gutka and pan masala on the next hearing on September 12.

The court also refused to entertain a plea by the companies to take their products out of Maharashtra, saying it will take up the matter once the petition is decided.

Senior counsel Milind Sathe, appearing for one of the petitioners, told the court that the companies manufacture their products outside Maharashtra and then bring them into the state for sale.

"That there is a ban on sale, we should be allowed to take our products outside Maharashtra so that it can be sold elsewhere," he said.

Advocate General Darius Khambata, however, opposed this saying apart from Maharashtra six other states have also banned sale of gutka and soon three more states will join this list.

The Maharashtra government on July 19 issued a notification prohibiting manufacture, sale and storage of gutka and pan masala across the state.

The petitioners have sought quashing of the notifications and two regulations of the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA) under which the ban was imposed.

Seeking quashing of the notification, Janak Dwarkadas, counsel for another petitioner, argued that the notification goes beyond the provisions of law.

However, Khambata called the government decision to impose ban as salutary while observing that it was in larger public interest. He contended that children below the age of 15 years are addicted to these products which are dangerous to life.