New Delhi: The city government was asked on Wednesday by the Delhi High Court to examine and decide in two weeks a plea to ban the sale of tobacco products in capital.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice AK Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw gave the direction to the government, while disposing of a petition by Doctors For You, a registered society, and asking it to approach the Delhi Government`s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Citing a media report of July 31, in which a Delhi minister had said the government should ban sale of tobacco products here, the bench asked the state to consider the plea as representation and decide the same in two weeks. The Delhi government`s Standing Counsel Najmi Waziri said steps have been taken by the state on the issue and if a representation is made to it, it would consider the same.
Appearing for the Centre, Additional Solicitor General Rajiv Mehra, meanwhile, told the bench that the government has written letters to various states to implement the Food Safety and Standards Act and some states have already banned the sale of tobacco products, invoking it. The bench was hearing the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which sought to ban tobacco products in the wake of a spurt in oral and lung cancer in the city.
PTI