Tobacco Control Initiative

Submitted by admin on Fri, 04/03/2009 - 19:58

Objective

According to World Health Organization one third of the world’s adult smoke cigarettes and half of these smokers will die prematurely. If current trend continues, tobacco will account for one-third of all adult deaths in the world.

Recognizing the gravity of the tobacco epidemic and the fact that the tobacco industry violates a number of human rights including the right to health, education and food, we at Lawyers Collective started the "Tobacco Control Initiative" under the umbrella of Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK) in collaboration with its Ngo partner’s VHAI, HRIDAY, and Consumer Voice. The initiative is based on the philosophy that health as a component of right to life is the most significant right and that everyone is entitled to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health.                                           

 

What we do

The world is accustomed to thinking of law as an instrument of justice, but not as an instrument to promote health. We wish to change that perception and use the power of the courts and law to help fight the global tobacco epidemic. We believe that law can awaken public outrage, strengthen public policies and redress injuries.

•    Recognizing the urgency of the tobacco epidemic and in an attempt to limit the extraordinary harm tobacco smoke inflicts, we are actively involved in enforcement and implementation of tobacco related laws through litigation.

•    We also monitor implementation of COTPA by regularly filing RTI applications to the concerned department and have developed an implementation database for future litigation and references.

•    We also provide trainings to enforcement officers on procedural aspect of COTPA and the duties and responsibilities of enforcement officers.

•    We also provide legal opinions related to COTPA and ancillary legislations to our Ngo partners.

             

Setting out

The seeds of tobacco control litigation were sown way back in 2001 in the Murli Deora case wherein it was held by the Supreme Court that fundamental rights guaranteed under Art 21 compulsorily provides that non-smokers should be protected from the ill effects of second hand smoking.