K C MALHOTRA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a Public Interest Litigation whereby the petitioner has prayed that the notification prohibiting sale of general salt should be quashed and a direction should be issued that the public should not be forced to consume iodized salt.

(2.) The petitioner is a doctor by profession and has brought this cause before this Court that poor people of India who are living mostly below the poverty line cannot afford to have the iodized salt which is expensive and therefore the action taken by the State in prohibiting the sale of general salt without iodine which is cheaper is bad. It is contended that the public at large is forced to consume iodized salt, cost of which is affordable by the people who are above poverty line. It is also pointed out that the iodized salt is ten times more costly than the ordinary salt in the market. It is alleged that it is nothing but a device to benefit the multi national companies to control this industry also.

(3.) The Government of India has issued notification through the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare dated 27th Nov., 1997 published in the Gazette of India (Extra Ordinary) Part II dated 9th July 1998. By this notification, provisions of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act 1954 and the Rules framed thereunder have been amended. The notification reads as under: MINISTRY OF HEALTH FAMILY WELFARE(Department of Health)NOTIFICATION New Delhi, the 27th November 1997 G.S.R. 670 (E) : Whereas certain draft rules further to amend the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955 were published as required by sub-section (1) of Section 23 of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act 1954 (37 of 1954) with the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (Department of Health), No. G.S.R. 6 (E) dated the 6th January 1997 in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, sub-section (i), dated the 6th January, 1997 inviting objections and suggestions from all persons likely to be affected thereby before the expiry of ninety days from the date on which the copies of the Official Gazette containing the said notification were made available to the public; And whereas the copies of the said Gazette were made available to the public on 15th January, 1997;And whereas the objections and suggestions received from the public on the said draft rules have been considered by Central Government; Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub section (1) read with sub section (1A) of Section 23 of Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 (37 of 1954), the Central Government, after consultation with the Central Committee for Food Standards, hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955, namely:1. (i) These rules may be called the Prevention of Food Adulteration (Xth Amendment) Rules, 1997.(ii) They shall come into force after six months from the date of their publication in the official Gazette.2 In the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955(i) In Rule 42,-(a) for sub Rule (V), the following sub rule shall be substituted, namely:'(v) Every container or package of table iodised salt or iron fortified common salt containing permitted anticaking agents shall bear the following label, namely:-TABLE IODISED SALT/TABLE IRON FORTIFIED COMMON SALT CONTAINS PERMITTED ANTICAKING AGENT''strike out whichever is not applicable.'(b) In sub-rule (zzz), after Clause (10), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:-'(11) Every container or package of common salt shall bear the following label, namely:-COMMON SALT FOR IODISATION/IRON FORTIFICATION/ANIMAL USE/PRESERVATION/ MEDICINE/INDUSTRIAL USE.Strike out which is not applicable, (ii) After Rule 44 F, the following rule shall be inserted, namely:-'44G. Restriction on sale of common salt - No person shall sell oroffer or expose for sale or have in his premises for the purpose of sale, common salt for direct human consumption unless the same is iodised. Provided that common salt may be sold or exposed for sale or stored for sale for iodisation, iron fortification, animal use, preservation, manufacturing medicines, and industrial use under proper label declarations as specified under Clause (11) of sub rule (zzz) of Rule 42.'(iii) in Rule 49 of the said rule in sub Rule (10), for the words 'Table salt or iron fortified common salt', the words 'Table iodised salt or table iron fortified common salt' shall be substituted."The contention of the petitioner is that by this notification, it has become necessary for the dealers to sell the salt which is iodised. The effect of this would be that the common salt which is sold in the market at cheaper rate would not be available to poor persons. Likewise, the consumption of common salt in all situations is not harmful to the people. It is pointed out that some persons who suffer from thyroid diseases, the consumption of iodised salt is health hazard. The petitioner has therefore challenged this notification on two grounds, firstly that the consumption of salt has been made expensive to those persons who are living below the poverty line, and secondly, it is not in every case that the consumption of iodised salt will remove number of ills of the persons who might be suffering due to lack of iodine. It is pointed out that in number of cases like persons suffering from thyroid, consumption of this iodised salt can prove fatal.