Date:02/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/02/stories/2008100251920300.htm

Karnataka

Smoking ban: Supreme Court decision hailed

Special Correspondent

PANAJI: The National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication, India (NOTE-India) has welcomed the decision taken by the Supreme Court on Monday not to stay implementation of the rules that ban smoking in public places. In a press release here on Tuesday, Shekhar Salkar, cancer surgeon and NOTE-India general secretary, said that the Supreme Court had also stated that no other court in the country would pass any order against the rule.

The ban on smoking at public places and workplaces, which will come into effect from October 2, was aimed at protecting people against the hazards of passive smoking, it said.

The law provides for ban on smoking in hotels, restaurants, workplaces, educational institutions, hospitals, railway stations and so on.