JUDGMENT :

(Prayer : Writ Petition filed Under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for issuance of a writ of Mandamus directing the 2nd respondent to prosecute the 5th respondent under Section 5 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulations of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 within a time frame fixed by this Court and further directing the 1st respondent to take appropriate action against the 4th respondent for the dereliction of duty committed in respect of violations of law by the 5th respondent within a time frame fixed by this Court. )

1. The lis on hand has been instituted by the petitioner who is the State Convenor of Tamil Nadu People’s Forum for Tobacco Control to direct the 2nd respondent to prosecute the 5th respondent under Section 5 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulations of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act, 2003” within a time frame fixed by this Court and to direct the 1st respondent to take appropriate action against the 4th respondent for the dereliction of duty committed in respect of violations of law by the 5th respondent within a time frame fixed by this Court.

2. The petitioner states that he is the State Convenor of the Tamil Nadu People’s Forum for Tobacco Control (TNPFTC) which is a network of individuals, professional associations, like-minded organisations and institutions who are actively working towards tobacco control. The petitioner has narrated the vision of forming a forum exclusively for tobacco control. The activities carried out by the forum has also been elaborately stated by the petitioner.

3. The grievance of the petitioner raised in the present writ petition is that under the banner of the 5th respondent, feature film in the name and style of “Vellaiyilla Pattathari” in short “VIP” was produced, which was released on 18th July, 2014 and is running in many theatres in and around Tamil Nadu and throughout India. Soon after, within a couple of days, friends of the writ petitioner in Chennai and from other parts of Tamil Nadu, who are all the members of the Forum, reported to the petitioner that the film had violated the relevant provisions of law. The petitioner ascertained the said complaint by viewing the film on 24.07.2014. Accordingly, the petitioner has summarised the violations as under:

“a) The advertisement banners of the said film, erected in front of all the theatres all over Tamil Nadu where the film is run, carries the picture of the lead actor (Dhanush) promoinently smoking with heaps of smoke emanating from his mouth, which is a violation punishable under Section 5 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulations of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 and Rule 9(2) of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulations of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) (Amendment) Rules, 2004 as amended on 27.10.2011.

b) The conspicuous absence of the disclaimer mandated under Rule 8(1)(d) of the above said Rules which provides that a disclaimer of minimum twenty seconds duration, by the concerned actor regarding the ill effects of the use of such products, in the beginning and middle of the film or the television programme be displayed, is a very serious violation of law.

c) In the film, the lead actor has been shown frequently smoking throughout the film without any editorial justification, which is a violation of Rules 8(1)(i) of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulations of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution), Rules, 2004.

d) Further, when such smoking scenes are shown in the film, the Rule that the anti-tobacco health warning scroll should be displayed legibly and readably in black coloure