“… the applicant is aware of its responsibilities in this grim moment. The applicant has contributed Rs 10 crore to the PM CARES fund, and has spent another Rs 10 crore to aid and assist organisations involved in the fight against corona.”

In reply to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking to ban pan masala (tobacco) during the ongoing corona crisis, pan masala company Rajnigandha has submitted an affidavit in the Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh. The above excerpt is from the same affidavit on the basis of which Rajnigandha has pleaded the government to not ban the sale of pan masala.

The country is, at present, battling the coronavirus crisis, and various state governments have rolled back the ban on the sale of pan masala. On June 18, the Jharkhand government had lifted the ban on the sale of pan masala. Earlier, the Rajasthan government had lifted the ban on May 26 while the Uttar Pradesh government revoked the ban from May 6. Many other states have also lifted the ban on its sale, or are gradually removing it.

At a time when the disease is spreading steadily in India and is creating new records with every passing day, the ban on the sale of pan masala is being questioned. It is a known fact that the corona pandemic spreads from aerosols, sputum and saliva. However, the use of pan masala at public places is still prohibited and no one is permitted to spit after chewing pan masala or gutka anywhere.

However, experts believe that if pan masala is sold, its consumer will spit it somewhere after chewing, which will further increase the risk of the spread of coronavirus. In Uttar Pradesh, senior journalist and 4 PM newspaper’s editor Sanjay Sharma, residing in the Lucknow, has filed a PIL in the Allahabad High Court against the sale of pan masala. In the petition, he sought a ban on the sale of pan masala during the corona crisis based on several facts.

In response to this PIL, pan masala company, Rajnigandha, has filed an affidavit in the Allahabad High Court requesting the High Court to allow its sale by terming pan masala as a ‘tobacco-free’ mouth freshener. At the same time, Rajnigandha also mentioned that it was also aware of the seriousness of the pandemic and therefore had deposited Rs 10 crore in the PM CARES Fund to fight corona and had spent an additional Rs 10 crore on corona warriors fighting the diseases.

Senior journalist Sharma, who has filed the PIL, says that all these points are ridiculous and contradictory in the affidavit of Rajniwagandha. “If you give money to the PM CARES Fund, it does not mean that you have the right to take someone’s life. The country’s health ministry, and the World Health Organization (WHO) have also admitted that the use of food items like pan masala, gutka, etc, during this corona crisis can prove to be very dangerous, yet the removal of restrictions by the state governments upon its sale is totally beyond comprehension,” he said.

To control the spread of corona, the Government of India had announced a complete lockdown in the country on March 24, 2020. Thereafter, on March 25, 2020, the Uttar Pradesh government had released a detailed guideline of restrictions within the state. According to this guideline: “Coronavirus spreads from one person to another and a lockdown is announced from March 25, 2020 in the entire state towards its prevention. In the meantime, there will be a ban on the use and eating of pan masala in the state as it is very likely to spread the infection. Therefore, in the exercise of the powers given in Section 30(2)(a) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, the government prohibits the manufacturing, distribution and sale of pan masala with immediate effect until further orders in view of public health.”

However, there were reports of theft and illegal sale and the use of pan-masala from many places in the country and the state. Nevertheless, the ban was widely effective and during the lockdown, people from many places were also reported to have gotten over the gutka habit. But the restrictions imposed on many industries were lifted to provide an impetus to the economy by the third lockdown. Under this, the ban on the sale of pan masala was also removed. The Commissioner of Food Safety and Drug Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh, ordered the removal of the ban on May 6, 2020.

As per this order, “In exercise of the powers conferred upon it by Section 30(2)(a) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, the Office vide Order No. 25 dated March 25, 2020, terminates the ban on the manufacture, distribution and sale of pan masala in view of public health within the state with immediate effect.”

Sharma pointed out that he then sent a detailed letter by e-mail to the Commissioner, Food Safety and Drug Department, Uttar Pradesh against the order on May 7, 2020. However, his letter was overlooked by the Department of Food Safety and drug on May 15, 2020. Thereafter, he had to take refuge in the High Court. The High Court has fixed the next date on July 8 while hearing the case on June 17. The hearing on June 17 by video conferencing was not attended by any government and Rajnigandha lawyer. Thereafter, the next hearing has been fixed for July 8.

Meanwhile, the High Court will be on a summer break. Talking to Gaon Connection over the phone, Sharma said that the state government and Rajnigandha did so deliberately so that the matter could be delayed for more and more days. He said that in the last hearing held earlier on June 12, the solicitor general and a senior lawyer from Rajnigandha were present and appealed to the High Court to hear them out through video conferencing in view of the corona crisis.

“It’s all very dangerous,” said Sharma. “On one hand, corona is spreading rapidly in the country and the state. More than 10,000 cases are coming up every day and the daily death toll has also reached thousand, and, on the other hand, the pan-masala companies are engaged in seeking permission to sell poison under the excuse of the money given by them to the PM CARES fund.”

He also questioned the intentions of the state government and alleged that somewhere the state government is in collusion with the capitalists and that is why the matter is not being taken seriously. Meanwhile, Rajnigandha maintains that it only makes and sells pan masala, which is a kind of mouth freshener. It does not contain tobacco. The state government has said that thousands of labourers are involved in this business and hence it cannot be kept closed for a long time.

Sharma said both the arguments are simply excuses. “Even after nearly three months of the lockdown, there are still numerous businesses that are completely closed as they carry the risk of spreading the infection. Cinema halls are completely closed, malls have only been opened up recently. There are so many industries and businesses that are still closed because what we face is an extraordinary and unprecedented epidemic situation,” he said.

He added: “Secondly, their argument of a mouth freshener is also silly because even if it were to be assumed that it is a mouth freshener, people would still need to spit it out after eating. The WHO and Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Singh have openly spoken that the disease spreads from spitting and the state governments should take appropriate steps on tobacco sales in this regard. We are only talking about the sale and ban during this pandemic so that millions of workers and poor people and their families who consume it can be saved from the wrath of this pandemic.”

When contacted in this regard, Anita Singh, Commissioner, Department of Food Safety, Uttar Pradesh, refused to give any information on the reasons behind firstly imposing and later revoking the ban on pan-gutka during the epidemic. She stated that the department and the government will file an affidavit, clarifying their stance, in the next hearing before the High Court and meanwhile, she cannot speak anything in front of the media.