CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu
government on Wednesday decided to ban the production, stocking, distribution and sale of tobacco products such as gutka
and pan masala
in the state. The government decision came against the backdrop of Supreme Court's remarks in a case pending before it seeking to know the action taken by the state government in curbing the usage of tobacco and its products.Making a statement in the assembly, chief minister J Jayalalithaa
referred to her previous regime's notification on November 19, 2001, to ban the use of tobacco under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, for five years, on which the Supreme Court ruled that the Centre alone had the powers to issue such notifications. Jayalalithaa
said her government had constituted a separate department 'Tamil Nadu
Food Safety and Drug Administration,' after the Centre announced the Food Safety and Standards Act. She also pointed out that Centre has enacted the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and it has come into force throughout the country from 5th
August 2011 by repealing the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act 1954. "In order to prevent various cancers through tobacco, my government has decided to ban the production, stocking, distribution and sale of gutka
and pan masala
in the state", she said.