Delhi High Court upholds law to display health warning on pan masala packaging

The Delhi High Court has upheld the law which mandates pan masala companies to display statutory health warnings about the harmful effects of pan masala on 50% space on the front side of the packaging of such products [Dharampal Satyapal Limited and Anr v Union of India]..A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora said that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) introduced the regulation in the interest of the larger public health, to raise awareness among consumers about the risk associated with chewing pan masala.The Court said that the pan masala companies’ challenge to the regulation is “driven by its self-interest" in safeguarding the sale of its pan masala brands, which might be affected if they comply with the regulation."The intention of Food Authority in introducing the impugned Regulation is that the statutory health warning statement serves as a crucial public health measure and it would be suitable that the warning statements are made highly visible, so that the same is noticeable to the consumers. Thus, the increase in size of warning statements from 3mm to 50% of front-of-pack of label is an effective alternative and does not disproportionately impact the rights of the Petitioners. Having these parameters in mind, this Court is of the opinion that the impugned Regulation meets the test of proportionality,” the High Court held..Therefore, it Court rejected the plea filed by Dharampal Satyapal Limited which manufactures products like Rajnigandha, Tansen, and Mastaba.Dharampal Satyapal approached the High Court seeking a declaration that Regulation 2(i) of the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Second Amendment Regulations, 2022 is unconstitutional for violating fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India which guarantees equality, freedom of expression and freedom to practice any trade or profession. They also sought a declaration that the Regulation is ultra vires the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.It was stated that as per the earlier regulation, the size of the statutory warning was to be 3 millimeter (mm). However, the new law says it should be 50% of the front of the package.The company argued that the regulation was introduced without following the statutory process and no opinion of the scientific panel or scientific committee was taken to justify the decision..However, the Division Bench ruled that the regulation brought in by the government gives effect to the legislative intent of safeguarding the larger public interest which is paramount.It further said that pan masala company cannot claim parity with alcohol companies who are mandated to have a 3 mm statutory health warning on alcohol bottles..Senior Advocates CS Vaidyanathan and Vivek Kohli with advocates Nalin Talwar, Sanjai Kumar Pathak, Bhavya Bhatia, Arvind Kumar Tripathi, Shashi Pathak, Aashish Kaushik, Jatin Nirwan and Divyanshi Mohan appeared for petitioner-company.Union of India was represented by Central Government Standing Counsel (CGSC) Anurag Ahluwalia and advocate Tarveen Singh Nanda.Advocates Aditya Singla, Supriya Juneja, Saakshi Garg, Ritwik Saha and Rahul appeared for the FSSAI..[Read Judgment]