Appellate Division upholds HC verdict on tobacco control

The Appellate Division has upheld a High Court verdict pronounced 16 years ago to control production and processing of tobacco products.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 1 March 2016, 03:03 PM
Updated : 1 March 2016, 03:03 PM

The verdict contained several directives, which asked the government to extend financial support to farmers so that they could stop growing tobacco, and instructed the authorities concerned to cancel the licences of businesses dealing in tobacco products.
An Appellate Division bench led by Chief Justice SK Sinha on Tuesday rejected the appeal filed by the State against the verdict.
 
The Appellate Division said it would give several new directives to rein in tobacco production and processing, Deputy Attorney General Ekramul Huq Tutul told bdnews24.com.
 
The High Court had announced the verdict on Feb 7, 2000 on a petition filed by anti-tobacco organisation ADHUNIK President Prof Nurul Islam and Bangladesh Anti-Drug Federation President Noor Mohammad.
 
The petition had sought directives for enforcement of the Tobacco Products Control Act 1988.
 
Tutul said the High Court had also ordered imposing high taxes to discourage import of tobacco products, stopping their promotion, conducting campaigns against the products on the media, and stopping smoking in public places.
 
The State appealed against the verdict in 2001 with the contention that its enforcement would require enactment of a new law.
 
The government, however, enacted the Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) Act 2005, scrapping the 1988 law.