The Delhi High Court has conferred upon the Chamber Allotment Committee the task of determining whether a cigarette shop in the court premises should be allowed to continue..A Bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal directed the same in a petition filed by advocate Vijay Chandra Jha..In his petition, Jha contended that as a result of the shop, litigants, advocates, court staff and other people visiting the court were subject to passive smoking. Moreover, he claims that allowing the operation of the shop would be a violation of Section 4 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, read with Rule 3 of the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008..The Registrar General of the High Court, represented by advocate Jayant K Mehta, however contended that the shop in question was allotted a licence back in 2000, before the 2003 Act came into force. The same licence is valid up to December 31, 2018..After going through the aforementioned provisions of law, the court noted that there seemed nothing wrong with having a cigarette shop on campus..“In the light of the above-noticed statutory provisions, it appears to us that though there is no absolute bar as such for locating a cigarette selling shop in the premises, it is necessary to ensure that the requirements of subsection (2) of Section 7 are satisfied…”.However, the court deemed that it was a matter which required further consideration, and directed the Registrar General to place the matter before the Chamber Allotment Committee, which will determine the fate of the shop..The matter is now listed for July 5, by which date the Registrar General is required to file an affidavit stating the progress made..Read the order:
