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E‑Commerce firms accused of selling pan masala and gutka in Maharashtra, despite state-wide ban
A businessman’s petition in the Bombay High Court alleges e-commerce platforms are delivering banned tobacco-laced pan masala across Maharashtra, urging enforcement despite the state’s ongoing ban.
The court has issued notices to the Nagpur collector, food and drug administration (FDA), state rural development department's secretary and police commissioner, and has given them a week's time to file their replies.
A public interest litigation filed in the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has alleged that banned pan masala and gutka products are being sold and delivered through e-commerce platforms across Maharashtra, despite a statewide prohibition on such goods.
The petitioner, Rohan Jaiswal, a businessman based in Bhandara, claimed in court that he was able to purchase a tobacco-laced pan masala product through a popular e-commerce app, which was subsequently delivered to his home. The filing included order receipts, app screenshots, and payment transaction records as evidence, urging the court to intervene and halt the online sale of substances considered hazardous under state law.
The court has issued notices to the Nagpur collector, the state’s Food and Drug Administration, the secretary of the rural development department, and the city’s police commissioner, granting them one week to respond to the allegations.
Maharashtra first imposed a ban on the manufacture, sale, and distribution of gutka and tobacco-laced pan masala in 2012, renewing the ban periodically. Most recently, the prohibition was extended for an additional year in July 2024.
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