After imposing a ban on gutka for another year and also on other gutka products like, scented supari (areca nut) etc, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has gone a step further and strengthened its legal recourse to ensure that those who break the law are not let off easily.
Food safety officers at FDA will book those found manufacturing or selling banned products in the state under Sections 324 and 328 of the Indian Penal Code. “Until last year, we booked the offenders for the violation of the Food Safety and Standards Act, but this year we will also book them under the relevant section of IPC which will attract imprisonment,” said Suresh Deshmukh, joint commissioner, FDA. “We want to send out a strong message that selling of any of these banned products could land the offenders in prison for up to 10 years.”
Last year, the FDA confiscated gutka worth `20.73 crore and filed 40 FIRs at various police stations. “Majority of the complaints are against unidentified people as no one came to claim the confiscated products,” said Mr Deshmukh.
On Tuesday, FDA officials met the members of Pan Bidi Association asking them to stop selling the banned products.
In addition, FDA has also filed a caveat in the Bombay high court with regards to the ban in order to pre-empt any case that may come up in future, informed Mr Deshmukh.
After the new ban was imposed which includes scented tobacco and supari products also, the FDA officials booked a Dahisar facility, which manufactured scented supari. “This ban is not a continuation of the old one, as the state has also banned scented supari and tobacco products,” said Mr Deshmukh.