BENGALURU: Hospital chain Healthcare Global (HCG) Enterprises Ltd has moved the Karnataka High Court questioning Section 4 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertising and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act. Section 4 permits hotels with 30 rooms and restaurants with a capacity to seat 30 or more people to allow smoking in designated smoking zones.
In the PIL, the petitioner prayed to the court to declare Section 4 unconstitutional and strike it down. A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Mohammad Nawaz issued a notice to the state and the Union governments.
The petitioner contended that second-hand smoking is dangerous to those exposed to it. In case of a restaurant, the smoke from smoking zones will endanger the health of others.
In Spain, for example, respiratory symptoms among hospitality workers decreased by 72 per cent in venues that became smoke-free, but no large decrease in symptoms were observed among workers in venues that became partially smoke-free, the petitioner stated.