Much to the amusement of cigarette manufacturers, the Supreme Court on Tuesday played the devil’s advocate by seeking scientific proof to explain how smoking can lead to lung or throat cancer.
The apex court raised this question even as it sought a response from the Centre on a PIl that demanded that cigarettes be sold in plain packets instead of attractive packaging often used by the companies as a ploy to divert the consumers’ attention from the graphic pictorial warnings on throat and lung cancer printed on the cover.
Issuing a notice to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, after much persuasion from lawyer Aishwarya Bhati, the Bench comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice UU lalit asked the petitioner if cancer has been scientifically linked to smoking. “Is there scientific research to prove that smoking causes lung cancer and throat cancer,” asked the Bench.
The reason for the SC nursing such doubts were instances from real life where the judges recounted how habitual smokers lived for years while those who never touched a cigarette in their entire life ended up with lung cancer.
The query by the Bench stumped the petitioner as much as the lawyers sitting in the SC. As a matter of fact, had it not been for the consecutive orders passed by the SC, the Health Ministry would have dragged its feet in implementing the order making graphic pictorial warnings mandatory on cigarette packets.
The Bench was even amused by how, when any programme on television or a movie in the cinema hall shows a character smoking, a line appears across the screen advising viewers that the actors smoking cigarettes in the scene do not endorse smoking as it is injurious to health. The Bench said that these messages were too small for any viewer to be able to read.
However, stressing on the effectiveness of plain packaging of cigarette packets carrying disturbing images showing oral cancer, lung cancer, etc, the petitioner Umesh Narain Sharma said that cigarette smoking was a huge health issue that violates the fundamental right to life of every citizen.
A lawyer in the Allahabad High Court, Sharma,
who is a smoker, was diagnosed with tongue cancer. Sharma conceded that he had decided to file the petition in public interest.
“Despite the high prevalence of tobacco use, over one million tobacco-related deaths yearly in India and despite clear recommendations of the Allahabad High Court to ensure plain packaging of cigarettes and other tobacco products, the Centre has taken no steps to discourage attractive packaging of tobacco products and implement plain packaging,” the PIl said.