Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has extended the ban on tobacco products in the national capital for a further period of one year.

Saxena, while invoking his powers provided under Article 239 AA (4) of the Constitution of India, has issued an order to this effect giving utmost importance to the issue of public health in light of rising number of oral cancer cases in the city, an official statement from the LG Office said.

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He also specified that it is now affecting children and youngsters and this menace should be contained for the future generation.

Saxena stressed that the notification needs to be enforced strictly and no lackadaisical attitude towards its enforcement in the city will be tolerated.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, under regulation 2.3.4. of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011, has prohibited and restricted sale of products containing tobacco and nicotine to be used as ingredients in any food products.

The Food Safety Department of the GNCTD will issue a notification extending the ban, following this approval by LG soon, the statement said.

The move prohibits manufacture, storage, distribution and sale of tobacco (flavoured, scented or mixed with any other addictive) and going by the name or form of gutka, paan masala, flavoured/scented tobacco, kharra or otherwise by whosoever, it said.

The banned products include packed or unpacked tobacco products and it will remain enforced for further one year under Clause (A) of Sub Section (2) of Section 30 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

In April this year, the Delhi High Court had also upheld a ban imposed by the food safety commissioner on manufacture, storage and sale of gutka, paan masala, flavoured tobacco and similar products in Delhi.

The court set aside a September 2022 decision of a single judge of the high court quashing the ban and allowed the appeals filed by the Centre and Delhi government against it and dismissed the objections raised by entities in tobacco business against the prohibition notifications issued earlier from 2015 till 2021, the statement said.