BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday slapped Rs. 1 lakh as cost upon Council for Harm Reduced Alternatives, a Mumbai-based firm for filing a PIL challenging the state government’s ban on electronic cigarettes.
The court took into account the submissions made by the government advocate that the state imposed a ban on the sale and distribution of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) citing the dangers nicotine poses to public health. It further submitted that several research agencies have reported the dangers of e-cigarettes on public health. The court dismissed the petition while observing that the plea is of no interest to the public and further imposed a cost of Rs1 lakh on the firm for filing such a PIL.
The petition stated that e-cigarettes are not only 95% safer than smoking, but are also the most effective smoking cessation method, with success rates many times those of NRTs like nicotine gum and patches.
Hence, instead of a ban that denies smokers access to harm-reduced products, the government should regulate their use to ensure compliance with safety norms, the petition added.
Among other grounds, the PIL had also stated that the state government has taken laudable steps in combating the rise of tobacco use by strictly imposing the norms of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Prohibitions Act (COTPA). However, it missed a step by prohibiting ENDS, since denying the role of harm reduction and insisting solely on cessation can be acutely detrimental to public health, the PIL mentioned.
