The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently issued notices to Swiggy, Blinkit, Meta, Google, and central and state authorities in response to a plea seeking regulation of online sales of tobacco products to minors [Tejaswin Raj through his guardian/authorized representative Anshu v. Union of India & Ors].
A bench consisting of Acting Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia and Justice Lapita Banerji requested responses from the respondents and scheduled the next hearing for July 24.
The petition, filed by a 15-year-old student represented by his guardian, aims to enforce health regulations that the petitioner claims are being violated by online platforms. The teenager expressed concern over the high prevalence of smoking and vaping among his peers in Chandigarh.
The plea argues that the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply, and Distribution) Act, 2003 (COTPA) and the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage, and Advertisement) Act, 2019 are not being properly implemented. As a result, banned products like e-cigarettes are easily accessible to teenagers.
The petitioner stated that underage individuals can readily purchase tobacco products from platforms like Swiggy Instamart and Blinkit, in violation of Section 6(a) of COTPA, which prohibits the sale of such products to persons under eighteen. He mentioned being able to order cigarettes from Blinkit simply by ticking a box stating, “YES, I AM ABOVE 18,” and receiving the delivery within nine minutes.
The plea calls for the enforcement of existing legislation and the formation of a monitoring committee supervised by three retired High Court judges. This committee would create a permanent mechanism to prevent the illicit trade and promotion of e-cigarettes and tobacco products to the youth.
Advocate Himanshu Raj represented the petitioner.
