Madras High Court issues notice on plea seeking mandatory health warnings at Tasmac shops

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has sought responses from the Tamil Nadu government and the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (TASMAC) on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking strict enforcement of mandatory health warnings at liquor retail outlets and the introduction of pictorial health warnings on alcohol bottles.

A first bench comprising Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan ordered notice to the Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, Additional Chief Secretary, Commissionerate of Prohibition and Excise, and MD of TASMAC on the petition filed by Cuddalore-based doctor K Gowrishankar.

The petitioner stated that a liver screening camp conducted at Panruti using FibroTouch Liver Scan technology examined 110 patients. The findings revealed that 37.27% had fatty liver disease, around 50% had liver fibrosis, and 1.8% had liver cirrhosis.

Of the 57 patients who disclosed regular alcohol consumption, 96.5% had fatty liver disease, 65% had liver fibrosis, and 3.5% had developed liver cirrhosis. The petitioner submitted that most of them were unaware of the health risks associated with regular alcohol consumption.

Following the camp, the petitioner visited several Tasmac outlets in and around Panruti and found that many shops were operating without mandatory Tamil warning signboards, allegedly in violation of Rule 10(5) of the TN Liquor Retail Vending (in Shops and Bars) Rules, 2003, and Rule 5.12 of the Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages) Regulations, 2018.

He also sought a direction to install and prominently display statutory warning signboards in Tamil at every TASMAC liquor retail shop and to introduce mandatory pictorial health warnings on alcohol bottles depicting the adverse effects of alcohol consumption on vital organs, particularly the liver, in the interest of public health.