In an effort to enforce the existing ban on sale and manufacture of gutka in the State, the Maharashtra Government on Monday announced that the State Government would henceforth treat the sale of the tobacco-laced chewing product as a non-bailable offence.
Responding to a query raised by Mohammed Arif Naseem Khan of the Congress during the question hour in the State Assembly, the State Food and Drug Minister Girish Bapat conceded that the ban on the sale of gutka was not being enforced properly in the State.
The Minister’s predicament should be seen in the light of the fact that though the manufacture and sale of gutka is banned in Maharashtra, there were no such restrictions in neighbouring States on tobacco-aced chewing products. As a result, shopkeepers smuggled gutka into Maharashtra from the neighbouring States. Bapat, however, assured the House that the State Government was taking steps to enforce the ban on gutka strictly.