JOSHY K.V. Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These Writ Petitions arise out of the common issue relating to "chewing tobacco" and the steps taken by the official respondents in preventing the supply and sale of the said products in the State of Kerala as violating the provisions of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (hereinafter referred to as the FSS Act) and hence decided by a common judgment. W.P.C. No. 13580 of 2012 is filed by Dealers of Tobacco Products, who alleges that while transporting chewing tobacco from Delhi, the vehicles were intercepted at the Excise Check Post at Valayar on 2.6.2012 on the allegation that the sale of panmasala is prohibited in the State of Kerala. Though they had represented that the ban of panmasala does not apply to chewing tobacco, the goods are not permitted to be brought to State of Kerala. It is their contention that though the Government had passed Ext.P9 order banning the manufacture, storage, sale or distribution of gutkha and panmasala containing tobacco or nicotine as ingredients in pursuance of Regulation 2.3.4 of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulation, 2011 (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations of 2011), the said prohibition does not apply to chewing tobacco and therefore it is not open for the respondents to prohibit the import of chewing tobacco to State of Kerala from any other State in the Country. Ext.P9 is extracted hereunder:

(2.) Petitioner therefore seeks a direction to the respondents to permit the petitioners to bring the articles covered by Exts.P4, P5 and P6 series to their respective shops for trade and for a declaration that the flavoured chewing tobacco is not banned in the State of Kerala under any law in force.

(3.) W.P.C. No. 16496 of 2012 is filed by a manufacturer of tobacco products under the brand name of Khaini and Cool lip Filter Khaini. They also contend that chewing tobacco is not an article banned in Kerala and the respondents are not permitting the sale of such article pursuant to the order banning gutkha and panmasala containing nicotine and tobacco by virtue of Government Order in terms of Regulation 2.3.4 of Regulations 2011. According to them, the product is permissible to be sold subject to the restrictions imposed under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 (hereinafter referred to as CTP Act) and there is no ban on the sale of the said products and the ban of gutkha and panmasala containing tobacco or 'nicotine cannot be used as a reason for not permitting tobacco products for being stored and they seek for a declaration for permission to sell the said products within the State of Kerala and further for a declaration that the products are not banned in the State of Kerala.