A SUPREME COURT Bench comprising Justices M.B. Shah and R.P. Sethi on November 2 directed the Centre, all States and Union Territories to ban smoking in public places, including hospitals, public offices, public transport, court buildings, educational institutions, libraries and auditoriums. The court asked the Commissioners of Police of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Ahmedabad to inform it about action taken against any cigarette manufacturers violating the advertising code. The Customs Department should also inform it of steps taken to check smuggling of foreign cigarettes.
The court passed the interim orders on a public interest petition by former Congress-(I) MP and Mumbai strongman Murli Deora seeking a direction to cigarette manufacturers to pay at least Rs.500 crores as compensation to be shared by the kin of those who have lost their lives or health owing to smoking. Deora also sought a ban on the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products to minors.
Counsel for Deora, Indira Jaising, had highlighted the violation of the advertisement code by cigarette manufacturers in putting up billboards and placing media advertisements. She contended that the statutory warning with regard to the potential ill-effects of smoking needs to be displayed in a certain size in order to make the public aware of the effects. She also wanted the warning to indicate that smoking was likely to cause heart disease and cancer. Three leading cigarette manufacturers meanwhile voluntarily offered to increase within three months the size of the warning to make it conspicuous.
At least three million people die annually in India from tobacco related diseases, and the number may rise to seven million, the petition said, quoting a World Health Organisation report.
The Supreme Court's order follows a ban imposed by a Kerala High Court Bench comprising Justices A.R. Lakshmanan and K. Narayana Kurup in 1999 on a public interest petition (Frontline, September 10, 1999). In its judgment, the High Court had held that smoking was a public nuisance under Section 268 of the Indian Penal Code, and an offence punishable under Section 278. The court had concluded that smoking in public of tobacco in any form, as cigarettes, cigars, beedies or otherwise, is illegal, unconstitutional and violative of Article 21 of the Constitution which assures every citizen the right to life and liberty.
The Kerala order was largely a success, in terms of implementation and public support for it. Even though States such as Delhi, Goa and Rajasthan have also since enacted laws banning smoking in public places, they do not seem to have generally succeeded in enforcing them to the extent Kerala has been able to.
The Supreme Court's order has also focussed attention on the anti-smoking legislation being considered for implementation by the Centre. A Bill imposing restrictions on advertisements of tobacco products and on tobacco companies is pending before a Parliamentary Standing Committee since March 2001 after it was introduced in the Rajya Sabha.
V. VenkatesanTHOUSANDS of Dalits from all over the country embraced Buddhism at a function organised on November 4 at Ambedkar Bhavan in New Delhi by the All-India Confederation of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Organisations. Led by Ram Raj, who changed his name to Udit Raj, the Dalits took the 22 vows that B.R. Ambedkar administered when he, along with half a million Dalits, embraced Buddhism on October 14, 1956. The police had cancelled the previous day permission to hold the event at the Ramlila grounds.
Speeches made at the conclusion of the ceremony attacked both the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bahujan Samaj Party. BSP leader Mayawati was criticised for not lending support to the mass conversion programme, and for not speaking against the government's opposition to discussing caste at the Durban conference on racism.
The RSS and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) criticised the mass conversion as the result of a Christian conspiracy, and blamed John Dayal, secretary of the All-India Christian Council, for his active help to the movement led by Udit Raj. While Dalit leaders were not apologetic about receiving help from anyone who supported their cause, John Dayal hinted that several Christian groups had extended only moral support to the Dalits' desire to convert to Buddhism as they respected their freedom of faith and conscience.
Although the organisers got due permission to hold the rally under a Delhi High Court order, John Dayal alleged that the National Commission on Minorities had asked the government to ban the rally. The police issued show-cause notices to the organisers asking why permission could not be withdrawn since they suspected the 'involvement of Christians' in the rally. John Dayal wondered whether the grant of permission should be reconsidered because Christians had worked for the success of the rally. The singling out of Christians by the police had ominous overtones, he alleged.
The police denied permission to hold the rally at the Ramlila grounds on the basis of their claim that the venue could accommodate only 80,000 people while the organisers expected lakhs of participants. This was disputed by the rally's organisers. They alleged that the police were behind the posters that appeared in Delhi on the eve of the rally, which claimed that the rally had been cancelled at the behest of Ram Raj. In the event, the rally attracted enthusiastic attendance.
The neo-converts to Buddhism will continue to enjoy the privileges as Dalits under the Constitution. Udit Raj said: "The conversion is a rejection of whatever caste stands for. It is a great walkout from Hinduism."
V. VenkatesanCOMMents
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