The main legal point established in the judgment is that public smoking of tobacco in any form is illegal, unconstitutional, and violative of Art.21 of the Constitution of India. The court directed the enforcement of penal provisions relating to public nuisance and air pollution, and cautioned the media to inform the public about the penal consequences of violating the ban on public smoking.

K. Narayana Kurup, J.

1. This is an Original Petition highlighting the public health issue of the dangers of passive smoking and in which prayers are made to declare that smoking of tobacco in any form, whether in the form of cigarette, cigar, beedis or otherwise in public places is illegal, unconstitutional and violative of Art.21 of the Constitution of India; issue a writ in the nature of mandamus or such other writ commanding the respondents to take appropriate and immediate measures to prosecute and punish all persons guilty of smoking in public places treating the said act as satisfying the definition of 'public nuisance' as defined under S.268 of the Indian Penal Code. We heard Mr. P. Deepak, counsel for the petitioners, the Advocate General for the State and counsel for other respondents.

2. In the Writ Petition originally there were only respondents 1 to 9 viz. State of Kerala, Director of Panchayat, Director General of Police, Commissioners of Police, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode and Commissioners of Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode Municipal Corporations. During the pendency of the Original Petition this Court suo-mote impleaded additional respondents 10 to 5 2 on whom service is complete.

3. Before proceeding to discuss the legal issues arising in this Original Petition, we feel that it is useful to refer to certain facts and figures of startling revelations which has a direct bearing on the dangers of smoking, active and passive, and its horrifying impact on public health.

On Smoking Generally

4. One million Indians the every year from tobacco-related diseases. This is more than the number of deaths due to motor accidents, AIDS, alcohol and drug abuse put together, say the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and the Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP), quoting studies 1.

5. Cigarette smoking is the major preventable cause of death in America, contributing to an estimated 350000 deaths annually. Epidemiological and experimental evidence has identified cigarette smoking as the primary cause of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) and as a major risk factor for coronary heart disease. Smoking has been associated with other cancers, cerebro vascular and peripheral vascular diseases, and peptic ulcer disease. Smokers also suffer more acute respiratory illness. Cigarette smoke, consisting of particles dispersed in a gas phase, is a complex mixture of thousands of compounds produced by the incomplete combustion of the tobacco leaf. Smoke constituents strongly implicated in causing disease are nicotine and tar in the particulate phase and carbon monoxide in the gas phase. Smokers have a 70 per cent higher mortality rate than nonsmokers. The risk of dying increases with the amount and duration of smoking and is higher in smokers who inhale. Coronary heart disease is the chief contributor to the excess mortality among cigarette smokers, followed by lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Life expectancy is significantly shortened by smoking cigarettes. Tobacco smoke also gets dissolved in the saliva and is swallowed, exposing the upper gastrointestinal tract to carcinogens. A strong association between smoking and lung cancer has been demonstrated in multiple prospective and retrospective epidemiological studies, and corroborated by autopsy evidence. Lung cancer has been the leading cause of cancer death in men since the 1950s, and it surpassed breast cancer as a leading cause of cancer death in women in 1985. Male smokers have a tenfold higher risk of developing lung cancer, and the risk increases with the number of cigarettes smoked. There is also strong evidence that smoking is a major cause of cancers of the larynx, ' See The Hindu 'Trivandrum Edition dated 31-10-1998 under the caption "Smoking Kill 10 lakhs Indians a Year."

oral cavity and oesophagus. The risk of these cancers increases with the intensity of exposures to cigarette smoke either active or