Health hazard: SHC grants more time for smoking ban implementation

Hearing was part of the suo motu proceedings based on a letter addressed by a professor at the Aga Khan hospital

KARACHI:

The Sindh High Court (SHC) granted on Wednesday more time to the provincial authorities to file their reports on efforts being made to implement the ban on smoking in public places.

Headed by Chief Justice Maqbool Baqar, the bench allowed time to file the reports on the request of the provincial law officer. The hearing was part of the suo motu proceedings based on a letter addressed by Dr Javaid Khan, a professor at the Aga Khan University Hospital, seeking directions for the authorities to enforce the ban.

Prof Khan said that despite claims made by the commissioner of Karachi regarding the ban on shisha, it was not being implemented in most restaurants.

Dr Khan had claimed that in countries where anti-tobacco laws were implemented properly, the prevalence of smoking had declined significantly. The petitioner mentioned that recently, the Civil Aviation Authority had opened a new smoking zone at Jinnah International Airport and was violating the country's laws.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th, 2014.