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In the Supreme Court, public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed seeking fresh guidelines on smoking zones in public places in India. The PIL seeks the removal of designated smoking zones from commercial places and airports. Further, the PIL asks for norms in raising the age of smoking and banning the sale of loose cigarettes in places like educational institutions, healthcare institutions, and worship areas.
Advocates Shubham Awasthi and Sapta Rishi Mishra had filed the plea. While the PIL was filed by Advocate Devendra Singh.
As per LawBeat, the plea states that people are getting addicted to smoking tobacco products and they usually do so to look cool or under peer pressure. It reads, "they see adults smoking and it becomes a rite of passage or their inducement to initiate smoking to show that they are matured now."
Alleging that cigarettes and tobacco products are affecting citizens' right to health and spread wrong influence, the PIL has sought further Central Government to exercise its power in a rightful manner, and initiate scientific studies and other steps like bans, etc. to control the sale and addiction of these products.
Some of the directions sought by the PIL are the following as per LawBeat:
- Creation of guidelines for handling filtration of air at places that have smoking zones
- Removal of shops selling cigarettes near educational institutions, public buildings, places of worship, etc.
- Increase the age of smoking to 21 years from the current 18 years.
- To ban the sale of loose cigarettes.
- To create interim guidelines till the time proper guidelines could be formulated by the State.
- To close dedicated smoking zones at Airports, Clubs, Restaurants, Hotels, Public Places, and even Private Properties being used for commercial purposes in a phased manner so as not to induce smoking among non-smokers.
- To keep dedicated smoking zones at Airports, Clubs, Restaurants, Hotels, Public Places, and even Private Properties used for commercial purposes covered so as not to induce smoking among nonsmokers.
- For information sharing and support between different segments of the government agencies and bodies for tackling the sale of cigarettes/tobacco products to minors and enforcement of strict identity checks and creation of a penalty regime for its implementation.
- To formulate plans for tackling cigarette/smoking addiction.
The plea had mentioned the World Health Organization in the year 2018 that revealed the younger population in India to be at an increased chance of Cardio-Vascular Diseases citing tobacco including cigarettes as a major contributor to killing 9 million people in India or 9.5% of all deaths in India.