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Showcause notice to Centre on banning paan masala

Bad news for all paan masala and gutka addicts.

The Delhi high court Friday issued show cause notices to the Union ministries of health and family welfare, industry and food processing, and the Delhi government's departments of health and industry on a public interest litigation seeking to ban their production and consumption.

A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Devinder Gupta and Justice K S Gupta directed the respondents to reply by May 5.

The PIL was filed by environmental and legal activist Dr B L Wadehra. Advocate Rekha Palli accepted notices on behalf of the Union ministries.

Dr Wadehra's petition urged the court to direct the respondents to ban the production, transportation, distribution, storage, sale, advertisement and consumption of gutka and paan masala, or its equivalents under a time-bound programme.

The PIL said paan masala is a deadly combination of tobacco, highly processed arrecanut and synthetic katha, besides lead, arsenic and magnesium carbonate. They cause oral cancer by bringing about changes in the lining of the mouth and throat to weaken the layer of cells, which give protection against diseases.

Dr Wadehra said four college students lost their tongues to gutka/paan masala. He said medical experts worldwide have accepted their ill effects. Ironically, 18 to 20 per cent of the cancer cases in India were of the mouth and throat, most of them the result of chewing tobacco and eating paan masala and gutka, he added.

Medical records show that 39.8 of every 100,000 men in Ahmedabad suffer from oral cancer. The figure is 33 in Bhopal, 25 in Bombay, 23 in Madras and 18 in Delhi. The incidence of oral cancer among women is also increasing.

Statistics also show that India is second to Brazil in the number of mouth cancer patients. While in Brazil the main cause of such cancer is liquor, in India it is attributable to tobacco.

The petition said the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, which screened over 300,000 patients in different parts of the country, has established beyond doubt that tobacco and betel nut chewing lead to mouth and throat cancers. Judicial intervention has become important, as the government was not making any effort to ban the use of such substances.

The manufacturers have been extensively publicising these products by adopting attractive and convincing methods to allure the unsuspecting population, the PIL said.

UNI

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