INDIA
A Reuters report has revealed that the Indian government is pushing the Supreme Court to apply a rarely used doctrine that would strip the US$11 billion tobacco industry’s legal right to trade. This is an effort aimed at deterring tobacco companies from challenging tough new regulations.
In a Reuters review of previously unreported court filing by the Health Ministry on January 8, the government has asked the top court to classify tobacco as “res extra commercium”, a Latin phrase meaning “outside commerce.” If applied, the doctrine would deny the industry’s legal standing to trade and give authorities more leeway to impose restrictions. Government lawyer R. Balasubramanian said the government is not discussing banning tobacco and the goal of invoking the Roman law doctrine was only to curtail the industry’s legal rights. This comes in addition to recently raised tobacco taxes, smoking cessation campaigns, and laws requiring covering most of the package in health warnings.
In its filing seeking to apply the doctrine to tobacco, the government argued it should have the power “to regulate business and to mitigate evils” to safeguard public health.
Sajan Poovayya, a senior lawyer representing top Indian cigarette maker ITC Ltd. and Philip Morris International Inc’s Indian partner, Godfrey Phillips, said the industry’s legal rights would be severely limited if the court applies the doctrine to tobacco. Saying he would fight “tooth and nail”, Poovayya said that taking away the industry’s right to trade would imperil millions of Indian farmers who depend on tobacco for their living. The industry estimates 45.7 million people in India depend on tobacco for their living.
“India is a tobacco growing country and there’s a need to look at the interest of those people who are already in the sector. Tobacco is not destructive to health. If tobacco is, sugar is as well,” he said.