MUMBAI: Maharashtra state Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) commissioner Tukaram Munde on Friday hinted at stringent action against the Bollywood celebrities Shahrukh Khan, Ajay Devgan, and Tiger Shroff for indirectly promoting the Tobacco Ghutka Vimal under the name of pan masala titled as Vimal Ilachi.
Maharashtra FDA has issued a show-cause notice to Bollywood actors Shahrukh Khan, Ajay Devgan, and Tiger Shroff for indirectly promoting tobacco ghutka in the name of Pan Masala.
Under the food safety standard, the Maharashtra government has banned the sale, consumption, storage, manufacturing, and distribution of harmful food items – Pan, Masala, and Ghutka since 2012. The violation of these norms can fetch stringent actions under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act.
Hinting at the action and referring to the big actors' names, FDA commissioner Tukaram Munde said, “In your view, they (Bollywood actors Shahrukh Khan, Ajay Devgan, and Tiger Shroff) are superstars, but for me they are only advertisers who are violating the law of the land. So as per the law, the action would be taken against them,” Munde said on his social media platform.
He said the FDA has issued the notice to these three actors and two of them are already replied to their notice while one of them has yet to reply. Mr. Munde did not reveal the names of these actors who replied and those yet to reply.
“The legal course of action has been initiated against the actor who refused to reply to the notice of the FDA for violation of the law for doing the surrogacy advertisement and promoting the banned food items,” Munde said.
He added that the two actors who replied to the FDA show-cause notice explained that the responsibility of the advertisement lies with the manufacturing company and shrugged off their responsibilities. “We will ask these two actors to present their side during the hearing. Then the next course of decision and action would be taken,” Munde added.
Munde explained that, as per the Food Safety Act 2018, it is the responsibility of the person who is promoting any product. “The Food Safety Act 2018 clearly defined the role of the manufacturer, promoters, and advertisers --stakeholders who are part of the banned and harmful food product. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the person who is promoting any food product. They have to take precautions while promoting a banned, harmful food product. They cannot shrug off their responsibility and escape it,” the FDA commissioner said.
