Smoke and mirrors: E-cigarette ban prompted by impending entry of global player, govt tells Kolkata HC

Following the first legal challenge to the Centre’s promulgation of an ordinance on September 18 banning e-cigarettes in the country, Kolkata High Court on Monday granted a temporary relief to sellers by revoking the requirement for them to submit their existing stock of e-cigarettes to government authorities for disposal.

It also emerged during the two-hour long proceedings that the government’s decision was prompted by the impending introduction of products manufactured by global giant Juul e-cigarettes, headquartered in the US, in India.

According to a Reuters report, additional solicitor general Aman Lekhi told the court as much while defending the suit filed by e-cigarettes importer ‘Plume Vapour’ and another company named ‘Woke Vapors’. The cases, Lekhi also stated, were a ‘proxy’ for Juul, but did not explain further.

“Juul’s formal entry into the market was pending, and the government chose to act on this as soon as possible,” additional solicitor general Aman Lekhi told the court in Kolkata.

It may be noted that the ordinance had cited the WHO Framework on Tobacco Control, adopted in Geneva in 2003, to which India is a signatory as its basis, “…taking into account a high level of protection for human health…”.

Woke Vapors said that it will keep working on an outcome where the production and sale of e-cigarettes might be regulated, but not entirely banned.

The counsel for Plume Vapour told the court that relative harm from e-cigarettes was less than from tobacco products and the government was scaring consumers by banning the product.

The case will next be heard on November 14.