The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to relax its order banning sale of tobacco products like gutka and pan masala in plastic sachets beyond March 1 after taking note of government's submission that 90 per cent of oral cancer cases in the country are on account of chewing tobacco.

A bench of justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly declined to relax the deadline imposed by it on December 7, while taking on record an expert panel's findings, submitted to it by the Centre on the harmful impact of various tobacco products on human health.