Delhi HC upholds 50 pc warning label size on pan masala packages

The Delhi High Court has upheld food safety regulator FSSAIs decision to enhance the size of statutory warnings against injury to health on pan masala packages to 50 per cent of the front of the label from the earlier 3 mmA bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan dismissed a petition by a pan masala manufacturer who challenged a notification issued by the FSSAI in October 2022 and said the mandate gives effect to the legislative intent of safeguarding the larger public interest in health which is paramount and outweighs the individual loss to a manufacturerThe present writ petition stands dismissed along with the pending application the bench also comprising Justice Manmeet PS Arora said in the judgment dated July 9The petitioners Dharampal Satyapal Ltd a licensed manufacturer and trader of pan masala brands Rajnigandha Tansen and Mastaba and one of its shareholders had also sought sufficient time to comply with the new packaging requirement if the petition was dismissedIn its judgment the court said the petitioner company had already been granted sufficient time to change the packaging of its product and comply with the regulationIn view of our findings on the vires of the impugned regulation we are not inclined to grant any further time to the petitioner for permitting transition of the packaging of its product it saidThe petitioners had assailed the regulation on the grounds that there was no study data or material to justify the size of the statutory warning and said the notification was liable to be struck down as it was based on whims surmises and conjecturesThe court however observed that as per the record the decision of the food authority to increase the warning size on the front of the label to 50 per cent is based on concerted deliberations of the relevant material including expert studies and reports which showed that the use of areca nut in pan masala was extremely hazardous to consumers and therefore there was a necessity to enhance the warningIt also rejected the petitioners claim that the enhancement of the size of the warning statement took away its rights under the Trademarks Act and Copyright Act as it constricted the space on the packageKeeping in view the object of protecting and promoting public health sought to be achieved by Respondent No 2 the constriction of space if any in displaying the trademark is not a ground for striking down the impugned regulation keeping in view the public health concern the court saidIt noted that although there is a worldwide recommendation for banning pan masala products the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India FSSAI has for the present only taken the limited step of increasing the warning size and the resistance by the petitioner showed it was only seeking to subserve their personal interestsThis court is of the opinion that the impugned Regulation gives effect to the legislative intent of safeguarding the larger public interest which is paramount and as held by the Supreme Court in Unicorn Industries the larger public interest of public health would outweigh the individual loss to the manufacturerlicensee like the Petitioners herein it observedThe court held the mandate met the test of proportionality as the statutory health warning statement was a crucial public health measure and the petitioner cannot claim parity with the size of 3 mm for statutory health warning on alcohol bottles PTI ADS IJTThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever