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Legal wrangling delays pictorial warning on pack of cigarettes
View(s):The Government’s move to discourage smoking through pictorial warnings on packets of cigarettes faced a legal snag on Friday when the Supreme Court issued a stay order preventing the implementation of new regulations. The interim ruling came following Sri Lanka’s tobacco monopoly, the Ceylon Tobacco Company, seeking relief in the Supreme Court after its attempt to obtain an interim order from the Court of Appeal against the implementation of the regulation of the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) failed.
The Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Saleem Marsoof, Satya Hettige and Eva Wanasundera granted the interim relief and issued a stay order till January 22. Hearing was listed for May 7. The CTC cited Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena, the Health Ministry Secretary, the chairman of the NATA, among others as respondents.
Its lawyers told court that the company in its writ application filed in the Court of Appeal had argued that the new regulation had no legal effect as it was not presented to Parliament and argued that the publication of the regulation in the gazette by the Minister was ultra vires.
Describing the NATA regulation as ‘stringent’ and not acceptable, President’s Counsel Faisz Mustapha, who represented the CTC, said the company would comply if a reasonable regulation was issued by NATA. He said publishing the pictorial warning together with a warning in print and other product details covering 80 per cent of the pack of cigarettes was not possible. He also said the company found it impossible to comply with another provision which insisted that each stick in the pack should carry the date of manufacture and date of expiry.
Mr. Mustapha also said the time given for the company to comply with the regulation was insufficient in view of the magnitude of the task such as withdrawing packets from the market and stopping the ongoing production. Deputy Solicitor General Janaka de Silva in his submission said the state was prepared to compromise if the company agreed to comply with the regulation in a reasonable manner.
He pointed out that in many countries, cigarette manufacturers published health warnings in print and pictorial and he saw no reason why the CTC could not agree to the NATA regulation. Mr. Mustapha with Ali Sabry, Manoj Bandara and Mehran Careem instructed by Sudath Perera Associates appeared for the CTC. DSG Janaka de Silva appeared for the respondents.
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