Bombay HC heeds Voice of Victims, Upholds Ban on Pan-Masala along with Gutka

Mumbai, 15th September 2012: Many tobacco victims, and their anxious family members, will heave a big sigh of relief today. In a case that was keenly watched by public health activists and tobacco victims families, Bombay High Court today upheld Maharashtra's stringent ban on pan masala. The high court refused to give relief to eight big manufacturers of pan masala, gutka and allied products by issuing a stay order against the ban. Thus, the judiciary has vindicated the firm stand taken by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and other leading administrators to curb the menace of tobacco.

Advocate General Darius Khambatta and Additional Solicitor General Kevic Setalwad defended the state government's decision to ban pan masala. Senior advocate Rajni Iyer represented the intervenor, namely Action Council against Tobacco India (ACT-India), which is an NGO based in Tata Memorial Hospital.

Harish Bakshi, a former victim who was part of the team that campaigned with the administration for this ban, hailed the court's decision and congratulated the Maharashtra government and civil society groups that had fought together for this issue. “I would particularly like thank FDA commissioner Mahesh Zagade, who took such a bold step. However, I am a bit worried by the fact that the administration is not destroying the stocks of gutka and pan masala seized, worth Rs 86 crores. Because it means they can be sold somewhere else.

“However, I heartily congratulate all the tobacco victims and surgeons from Tata Memorial hospital, who, supported by NGOs such as Salaam Bombay Foundation, had together campaigned for Maharashtra's stringent ban, which is miles ahead of other states. This stay order was being sought by the banned gutka industry in order to enable a backdoor re-entry for gutka, in the guise of independent tobacco pouches to be sold along with pan masala but intended to be consumed along with it. Getting pan masala excluded from the scope of this ban would have essentially nullified the ban. Indeed, as a former consumer, I know of prominent places such as outside CST station where tobacco and such products are being sold in independent pouches for mixing together. The police must crack down on such places and close the loopholes,” urges Harish.

Read ban orders of some states: http://tiny.cc/Ban-Orders-Many-States”

Pan masala itself is not just an innocent mixture of arecanut cuttings, food flavours and sweeteners. It is a specialized product engineered for causing addiction, and as such, it is an ingenious mix of traditional items and chemicals such as magnesium carbonate., designed to deliver ever higher "highs" to addicts. The similarity in packaging and marketing of gutkha and pan masala is no accident; pan masala initiates unwary people and gets them to set foot on the slippery slope of addiction. Gutka, khaini etc. lie in wait further down that slope. Maharashtra FDA's ban order dated 19 July 2012 highlighted the risk posed by Magnesium Carbonate present in pan masala, which leads to hyper magnesia, and sometimes cardiac arrest. Even pan masala brands marketed as “tobacco-free” contain high levels of nicotine, as revealed by a study commissioned by the Ministry of Health. Laboratory analysis of randomly picked pan masala brand samples by the Central Tobacco Research Institute (CTRI), Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh has revealed that Rajnigandha pan masala contains 2.26 gm of nicotine per 100 gm of pan masala -- more than Goa 1000 Gutkha, a leading brand which has 2.04 gm of nicotine per 100 gm.

Among those who had eloquently made presentations to the Chief Minister, Deputy CM and sensitized the State Assembly was Sumitra Pednekar, wife of late Satish Pednekar, who had succumbed to oral cancer in 2011 at the age of 61 years. Satish Pednekar, a former Home and Labour Minister of Maharashtra, was fond of having 5 to 6 packets of gutka every day. This ban may have come too late for campaigners like Sumitra and her two daughters, who were emotionally and financially ruined by the death of Satish Pednekar. But if they are reading this, these campaigners may draw some comfort from the fact that their efforts were not in vain.

FOR MORE DETAILS, CONTACT:

• Dr. Pankaj Chaturvedi, Associate Professor, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai -chaturvedi.pankaj###gmail(dot)com
• Ashima Sarin, Project Director - VoTV - +91-8860786604 sarina ###healis (dot)org
  (Pl replace ### with @ and (dot) with .)

Anti-Corruption Act Abridged & Simplified for RTI Activists

After many months and years of battling for information, activists sometimes succeed in uncovering documentary evidence of corruption. But then they are left wondering, “What next?” How to use these hard-won documents for seeking justice? There is a shortage of suitable forums for punishing corruption and criminal misconduct of public servants. Going to high court with writs and PILs is our last option, not our first; before we do that, we are required by law to exhaust all the other remedies, especially police complaints.

Read & understand SIMPLIFIED & ABRIDGED Prevention of Corruption Act 1988:
Originally 6045 words, we reduced it to 3,324 words, and made sentences short and easy.

After Bombay High Court’s order in September ‘09 order, The Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) 1988 is available to us in Maharashtra. A home department circular that made it ineffective has been stayed, and will probably be quashed. PCA now enables us to register FIR with Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) and start prosecuting corrupt officials. ACB has a special duty to take action in such matters.

The reader-friendly website of ACB Maharashtra gives plenty of contact details, and promises actions within a clear timeframe. Similar links are available for ACB in other states also. Worth trying!

Plus points of Prevention of Corrupt Act 1988:
1) It gives a wide scope to the concept of “public servant”. The term includes judges, arbitrators, election officials, employees of public corporations, selection committee members and anybody in the “service and pay of local authority”, office bearers of cooperative societies of various kinds, and recipients of government funding. It is applicable to Information Commissioners and other quasi-judicial authorities.

2) As PCA 1988 includes judges and judge-like authorities, it seems to nullify some of the wide protection to judges under Judges Protection Act 1985.

3) It also gives wide interpretation to “gratification other than legal remuneration” and “criminal misconduct”. Thus, it is not necessary to prove that a public servant actually sought a bribe in cash, or was actually given. It is enough to show that undue favour or disfavor (or undue service or disservice) were given or sought to be given.

4) It spreads the net wide by including abetment of the offences and conspiracy, and thereby includes private parties such as touts and dalals, besides superiors, colleagues and others who assist indirectly and collude in the corrupt practices.

5) It has provisions for granting immunity from prosecution to bribe-givers or bribe-takers who turn into whistle-blowers and assist in the prosecution.

6) It provides for a summary trial, and restricts the scope for appeals before higher courts.

7) Offences under this Act will be tried by a Special Judge with special powers to attach the offender’s properties etc.

8) It mandates hearings on a daily basis.

Limitation of PCA 1988: After FIR is registered and after the police investigation is complete, the prosecuting authority ie. Anti Corruption Bureau must seek approval from the State or Central Government, or from competent authority, to prosecute the corrupt official. According to ACB Maharashtra website, this approval requires three months… But that is not such a long time, is it?

My friends have a saying about such things: Lag gaya toh teer, nahin toh tukkah. We have everything to gain from trying to get an FIR registered under PCA 1988, and we have very little to lose. So let us try our best.

Warm Regards,
Krishnaraj Rao [sahasipadyatri.AT.gmail.com]
98215 88114

PS: We will shortly publish easy formats and guidelines for drafting complaints to Anti Corruption Bureau, for getting FIRs registered.