New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered cigarette manufacturers to comply with controversial new rules requiring bigger health warnings on packets that sparked weeks-long factory shutdowns. The tobacco industry has taken the government to court, arguing that the directives — aimed at deterring smokers with graphic images of diseased lungs and mouth tumours — are too harsh. In force since April 1, the stringent rules mandate an increase in the size of health warnings from the current 20 percent of the surface of a cigarette packet to up to 85 percent.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday transferred all of the petitions, some brought by makers of cheap, hand-rolled cigarettes known as beedis, to a different court in the southern state of Karnataka. The court said manufacturers have to comply in the meantime with the government’s rules. “All petitions pending in various high courts stand transferred to the Karnataka High Court,” Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose said. “It is expected that all petitioners will comply with the 2014 amendment rule.”
India’s tobacco industry says the rules are too difficult to implement and will lead to an increase in the smuggling of illegal cigarettes at the cost of local jobs.

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