Following the Supreme Court order, individuals selling, transporting and storing gutkha can now be booked under non-bailable Section 328 of the Indian Penal Code in Maharashtra.

Girish Bapat, Maharashtra’s minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection, Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday said that his department has informed all superintendents of police and district collectors to start taking action against such individuals. Section 328 is invoked for causing hurt by means of poison with the intent to commit an offence.

“Our officers would confiscate gutkha and take action under this section earlier as well. However, gutkha manufacturers approached the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court against this. The court ruled against us and as a result we approached the Supreme Court,” said Mr. Bapat.

In its order in September, the apex court ruled in favour of the State government. Due to pending court cases, officials were wary of slapping the stringent sections against the accused, Mr. Bapat said. “The court order is a boost to our efforts to stop illegal distribution and sale of gutkha,” he said.

The sale and consumption of gutkha was banned in the State from June 2012. Despite the ban, the FDA teams have been seizing large packs of gutkha at regular intervals across the State. In the monsoon session of the State council, the government announced that the sale of gutkha will be a non-bailable offence.

Since the announcement of ban, Maharashtra has seized gutkha worth ₹171crore. The State has filed 3,727 FIRs and 4,600 court cases are presently pending in the court. “We also plan to run all these cases in fast track courts. I am determined to make all of them spend years in jail for breaking the law,” said the minister.