Cuttack: Orissa High Court has stayed the state government’s notification banning the manufacture, sale, and preparation of tobacco, gutkha, pan masala, zarda, or any nicotine-containing food products.
Hearing a petition challenging the move, Justice Sanjeeb Kumar Panigrahi issued notice to the state government and directed that no financial or punitive action be taken against the petitioner until the next hearing. The matter is listed for further hearing April 10.
The Health and Family Welfare department, through Notification No. 2065 dated January 21, had banned the manufacture, preparation, packaging, storage, transport, trade, and sale of gutkha, pan masala, zarda, khaini, and all food products containing tobacco or nicotine in the state. The prohibition was issued under Section 2.3.4 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011.
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The department stated that the move was taken following Supreme Court directions and guidelines issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). Challenging the notification, Gopal Aromatic Private Limited approached the High Court, arguing that the state government’s order violated Articles 14 and 19(1) of the Constitution. The petitioner contended that the notification was issued illegally, ignoring the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003, the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and the Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011.
The petitioner further submitted that chewing tobacco cannot be classified as a food product. While the law prohibits adding nicotine to food items, tobacco itself naturally contains nicotine and is not a food ingredient. Therefore, there must be a clear distinction between tobacco products and food products, the petitioner argued. It also contended that classifying chewing tobacco as a food item under the FSSAI framework while prohibiting nicotine in food is contradictory, as the two provisions are mutually inconsistent. Senior advocates CS Vaidyanathan and Vivek Kohli, along with advocates Manoj Gupta and Yeshi Richen, appeared for the petitioner, while ASC Gayatri Patra represented the state government.