The Delhi High Court, on Friday, gave four weeks' time to the Centre to respond to producer-director Mahesh Bhatt's petition challenging the notification banning smoking on screen.
A division bench of Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice H R Malhotra gave this time to the Centre after Additional Solicitor General P P Malhotra submitted that the date for the notification to come into force has already been extended from October 2 to January 1 2006.
The bench had earlier issued notices to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It has asked both the ministries to file their replies by November 10, the next date of hearing.
The notification was in tune with the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade & Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003, which aims at saving people from involuntary smoking and prohibits direct or indirect advertisement of tobacco products, the ASG had earlier said.
Appearing for Bhatt, senior counsel Sandeep Sethi had sought quashing of the May 31 notification issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare under Rule 4(6) of 'Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisemnt and Regulation of Trade & Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Rules, 2005.
He termed it as violative of the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression, as guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of Constitution. It sought to know whether it was not permissible to show smoking on screen in the natural course of events in a film.
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